The Detour
by ColdCoffee123
Summary: The aftermath of visitation never gets any easier, but neither does the rehabilitation of a broken heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! **

**WARNING: this will include spoilers from Season 7, so don't read it if you don't want to have an indication as to what happens. I'll have another note at the end to prevent anyone from seeing anything they don't want to regarding the ending. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sitting in the confines of the all familiar visitation room reminds her of her heartbreak. It had taken her several days to stop the continual crying, to get out of bed, to even manage to get through to Alex. The brunette had finally answered her phone during the evening - a time in which Piper knew cells would be locked for the night, and as the older woman's bunkmate proved to be a heavy sleeper, it was the easiest way to talk. The conversation lasted for 10 minutes, filled with long silences and tearful voices. It was evident that the aftermath of their previous conversation has taken its emotional toll on both women, and despite the bad terms their relationship currently stood in, Piper managed to convince the brunette to turn up to visitation the following day.

She shuffles in her small, school-like chair as she watches several other inmates walk past the glass partition in front of her right up until her eyes finally set on Alex. In her blue uniform, the brunette takes a seat on her side of the glass and closes over her eyes as she feels Piper's gaze land on her face. The blonde clenches down on her jaw to prevent an onset of tears flooding from her eyes even before they've said a word to one another, and when Alex finally open hers back up, the watery lining covering her green orbs makes it all the more difficult to hold back her emotions.

Both women reach to grab the black, wired phone connected to the wall and hold it against their ears; the sound of one another's breathing the only thing passing through the line.

"Alex-" the blonde attempts to begin, the lump in her throat not allowing her to expand any further.

"Why're you here, Piper?" the brunette asks, not wanting to beat around the bush, and through her own glassy eyes, the blonde notes how exhausted her counterpart looks; her eyes have lost their usual spark, and the bags lining underneath suggest that the heavy mixture of endless crying and a significant lack of sleep hasn't been a healthy combination.

"I can't let you do this to us, Alex," she blurts out, her voice breaking as the older woman's name leaves her lips - an indication that she isn't going to be able to hold her cool for much longer.

"Pipes," the brunette begins, sighing as she lowers her head before restoring eye contact. "You deserve to be with someone good enough. Like you've said, you've ruined your life twice because of me - probably even more by now. You deserve to be with someone who isn't broken like me."

The blonde can no longer hold back her emotions as she feels a stream of tears begin to stain her cheeks, thinking back to the prior conversation she had recently had with her father about Alex being a broken individual.

"You are good enough for me, Alex," she counters. "You say you're broken, but I don't care about that. You're _my_ broken person," she pauses, her voice once again breaking. "I'm broken too… but when I'm with you, it's like… it's like I'm no longer broken. I'm whole. I need you, Alex. I always have done, and I know I had some trouble admitting it to myself in the beginning, but I can't hide it anymore. I don't want to."

Seemingly stunned by what the blonde had voiced, the brunette pushes her glasses further up onto her nose - an unsuccessful attempt to hide the emotional build up in her eyes.

"But you're not here with me, Piper. How are you expecting me to make you whole when we can't even touch each other?" she says, waving a hand towards the glass barricade separating them. "We can't talk to each other every day, and we sure as hell can't see each other every day. Freedom is a chance to start again, and I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't give it to you."

"Al," Piper begins before a wave of sobs causes her free hand to cover her face. "I'm not leaving you," she continues, pulling her hand away as she tries to compose herself. "Not again. I know we can't see each other and talk every day of your sentence, but I'm not giving this up. I'd rather wait for the outcome of a lifetime of happiness. I'm not letting you do that."

"You've already found someone else that makes you happy, Piper. Someone that isn't me and that you admittedly have feelings for."

Sniffing her nose and leaning forward, the blonde does what she can only do considering their circumstances: beg.

"I know I said I had feelings for her, Alex, but I didn't say what those feelings entail," she begins, watching the woman before her stiffen at her response. "I'll admit that it feels nice to have that kind of revelation, but these feelings are nothing more than the makings of a high school-like crush. I can't lie to you about it, but what I need you to understand, is that these feelings don't even compare to what I have always felt for you. You're my wife, Alex. You're my partner, my companion. I _love_ you. I don't just feel like kissing for 2 minutes behind the bike shed with you; I want forever with you. I want to come home to you and relive what it's like to love you and be loved back."

The brunette - now in a more visibly disturbed emotional state - pushes her hands up onto her head and covers the front of her glasses, almost as though attempting to hide despite the phone still in her grasp.

"I think you're forgetting that I'm being transferred, Piper, to Ohio. Your life is here in New York: your friends, your family, your job. You have a chance to live a stable life here without waiting around for the next few years."

"My life is wherever you are, Alex," the blonde answers rapidly. "I made a vow to wait for you, and whether that's 3 years or more, I have no intentions of breaking it. Do you remember what I said when I proposed to you in the bunker?" Piper asks, keeping her eyes trained on the woman's green ones in front of her as she delivers a voiceless nod. "We're doing this through love and pain. This is the painful part, and I meant every word I said to you. I'm not going to run away when things get painful anymore."

"And through beauty fish," the brunette replies, causing Piper's train of thought to fly out the window - momentarily stunned, but she immediately recognises what the other woman is alluding to. "I don't want us to keep hurting each other."

"That's why I'm here. I want to - I _need_ to - show you that this is what I want. I don't need spiritual journeys, questionable friendships and some fancy job," Piper pauses, looking down as bends down her body to grab a piece of paper from the bag by her feet before unfolding it and pressing it up against the glass.

"An apartment building?" Alex questions, looking at the picture on the page then back to Piper's blue eyes. "I don't get it?"

"Read it," the blonde prompts, knowing the contents of the conversation had overwhelmed Alex's basic ability to catch on to what she's trying to say.

The left middle side of the page is mainly taken up by a selection of images of a basic apartment, but in looking at the description on the right and the layout of the page in which had been printed out, Piper watches Alex's eyes widen - a sign that she had figured out what message was trying to be conveyed.

"It's the best I could afford, but it's near my new job and, more importantly, it's only a 20 minute drive from you."

"Pipes-" Alex voices, her eyes again welling up at the sentiment of the woman before her.

"This is why I'm not letting you do this, Alex. I'll beg and plead as long as you want, but nothing you can say will make me change my mind."

"So you're moving?"

"To Ohio, yes. Like I said, Al, you aren't a detour from my life, you are my life. And if that means I need to take a detour in order to keep it that way with you still in it, that's what I'll do."

Not knowing how to even take in the information the blonde had given her, Alex - for the first time during the exchange - doesn't try to hide her emotions as her tears overwhelmingly make the focus of her eyes blurry, causing her to momentarily question whether she is even wearing her glasses as she feels the wetness paint over the surface of her cheeks.

Alex isn't too sure how long she'd spent staring at the blonde in front of her, but by the time she blinks rapidly and clears her vision, she observes Piper pulling the paper back down and folding it in half - the shining ring on her left hand evident as she rests the phone against her shoulder before restoring her grip back on the device.

"I couldn't take it off, you know," she eventually voices, using her left thumb to rub the white ring adorning her own ring finger.

Piper, looking down at Alex's hand, smiles at her wife, understanding what she's talking about.

"I know what I said last time was bad, but it doesn't mean I meant it," she continues, referring to her comments regarding their prison wedding. "I just wanted to give you the chance to step back while you still could."

"I know it's not a legal marriage, but it is to me in here," Piper explains, using her right hand to point to where she can feel her heart rapidly beating. "And that's all that matters; marriage is forever and I want that with you."

"I want that to," the brunette reveals - for the first time announcing how she really feels about their situation. "And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. I wanted to do what I thought was best for you - for us - from where I am locked away in here, but I came to realise that although I was doing the right thing morally, it wasn't what I wanted deep down inside," Alex explains, causing Piper's eyes to unsurprisingly begin to once again tear up.

The blonde's eyes are caught by the sight of an officer walking past the inmates - generally a sign that the visitation time is soon coming to an end.

"It'll be our clean slate. We deserve it," she smiles, for the first time feeling satisfied that whatever she's saying isn't something Alex is trying to fight against.

"You're something else, Piper Vause-Chapman," the brunette too says through a smile, having never in a million years expected their conversation to have reached this outcome.

"God, I love hearing you call me that," Piper says through a deep voice, throwing her head back before lowering her eyes back to deliver a genuine look of happiness.

"Are you sure you want this?" Alex asks for the final time, giving Piper one last chance to bring a pause to the ongoing merry-go-round that is their relationship.

"I've never been so sure about anything before, Al. I love you and I'll do anything to show you that you're everything I need."

Piper smiles as she watches Alex lower her head as - what looks like - a light reddening tinge starts to cover her cheeks.

"I should start to get going, kid."

"Can I call you tomorrow?"

"I'm getting rid of my phone before I leave in a few days. I'll see how much money I have to do it on a cell block phone, but don't panic if you don't hear from me."

Placing her hand up against the glass, Piper anticipates movement from her wife opposite her, and as she watches Alex also raise her hand onto the glass in line with hers, she gives off a toothy smile - feeling happiness that - for the first time since their marriage ceremony - indicates that everything between them is finally going to be okay.

* * *

Heading back to her near empty cell, Alex sits on the edge of her bed and stares at the wall in front of her. She'd been nervous about seeing Piper again - worried that she was to admit that breaking up was what she really wanted, but as she reminds herself that Piper wanted to fight for their relationship - their _marriage_, Alex allows herself to smile - something she hadn't done within the confines of her cell during the spell in which Piper had been released.

Reaching under the bed, her hand brushes against a large, brownish-orange envelope. She couldn't bring herself to throw it away - just like she couldn't force herself to take off her wedding ring, and as she peels back the sealed opening and reaches inside, her heart clenches as she reads some of the many slips of paper Piper had written - all tokens of numerous reasons of love.

_Because you know how I like my coffee in the morning._

_Because you taught me that cleaning hardwood floors is better and more time consuming than doing so with a stained carpet._

_Because you don't complain about the fact that I banned you from wearing socks in bed. _

Chuckling to herself, Alex reaches in and picks out the noticeably larger piece of paper that she had placed inside the envelope after previously having had it stuck up on the wall opposite her bed. It's a picture of Piper smiling into the camera with her blonde hair tied up and her body adorning a white patterned blouse and a yellow cardigan. The blonde had printed it out and sent it over in the very first letter she had written many months ago, and in what was another thing she couldn't bring herself to do after their last visitation, Alex hadn't thrown it away.

The small message of love that had been written at the bottom by her wife in black marker pen makes her smile, and as she runs her right hand over the image, Alex can't help but think that maybe this whole journey has all been worthwhile; maybe change isn't as bad as it seems.

* * *

**I hope this wasn't too cliché to read, but I felt as though there was something missing between the final visitation and the last scene of Alex and Piper in the show that I wanted to visualise. **

**Personally, the way in which the show ended wasn't something I entirely expected. I didn't really feel the sense of satisfaction and finality I'd been craving for throughout the seven seasons, but after a few days and actually reflecting over the symbolism of the ending - the last episode in particular, I guess I can't really complain about the overall message that's been left for us to ponder and imagine. **

**I'm not too sure whether I'll continue this as a mini story, take some suggestions for a few chapters, or just leave it here as it is. Please let me know what you think in the reviews - I'm curious about what people think of this as well as how the show ended!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the reviews! It's unsurprising that the majority of people feel the same way about the Alex-Piper storyline in Season 7. I can only hope that this somewhat helps with the elements of disappointment... **

**I'd missed the interactions between both Alex and Piper with Nicky this season. I always enjoyed their dynamic, and, if anything, I would have liked an almost intervention-like phone call between Nicky and Piper - something to have grounded the crazy events that emotionally wrecked fans in a borderline unnecessary fashion - well, that's my opinion anyway. **

**Regardless, I hope you enjoy. **

* * *

The sound of the humming fridge is the only thing preventing Piper from over-thinking. From where she's seated at the wooden kitchen table - waiting for Cal and Neri to return from her sister-in-law's parents' home, the blonde is unsure what to do with herself. The vast majority of her belongings - albeit limited - are packed away into a large suitcase and accompanying cardboard boxes, making the room in which she'd been occupying for the best part of a year as empty as it had been when she first stepped foot inside.

Her thoughts are soon disrupted by the sound of the ringing of her iPhone coming from her room, and as she hadn't heard from her wife since their visitation four days ago, Piper's reflexes instantly kick in. Dramatically getting up from the small, wooden chair she was seated on, the blonde rushes into her room - careful not to knock over any boxes as she enters - and picks up the device that was resting on the top of her bed.

"Hello," she says, despite having recognised the number calling and expecting an automated greeting.

"An inmate from Litchfield Federal Prison is attempting to contact you. Do you accept?"

"Accept, accept," the blonde responds. impatiently waiting for the phone call to transfer through.

"Alex?" Piper asks, craving the sound of her wife's deep, husky voice.

"I'm sorry to get your hopes up, blondie, but it's not your tall glass of water," a rough voice comes down the line, causing her eyes to widen.

"Nicky? Is that you?" she asks, running a hand through her hair yet leaving it positioned in a tight grip at the top of her head.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to call. Your letter came late and I've only just had the changes to my call list approved."

"How are you?" Piper asks, ignoring her friend's apology - already knowing that the punctuality of these sort of things are never in the hands of inmates, and that they're probably lacking in time to talk.

"Well, most of my friends are gone, I ran out of shampoo, and I think about going full out Shawshank about 3 times a day. What about you?" the wild-haired woman asks, the sarcasm in her response particularly evident.

"Things have been tough," she pauses, not particularly knowing how to explain without eating into a chunk of her friend's call time allowance.

"With Alex?"

"Yeah," she sighs, "with Alex."

"You guys really are a living soap opera," Nicky chuckles out. "You know, I always did root for you two… I'm sorry to hear about how it ended," she adds with a more sincere tone.

"There's no need to apologise. We talked some more and I think for the first time in a while we're finally on the same page."

"Of the same book?" Nicky asks, her tone of voice heightened.

"Even the same chapter," the blonde confirms, smiling as she hears her friend laughing lightly on the other side of the line.

"Fuck, blondie, you two are a different kind. So I'm guessing the whole separation didn't last very long?"

"I don't think we ever were fully separated… at least not in my eyes. Did she tell you that?"

"We may have… talked about your situation, but she didn't go into detail with her saying goodbye and all."

"So she told you about that as well," Piper comments, her heart dropping at the thought of Alex having to leave behind the one person who really was there throughout her time in prison, both while they were and weren't on good terms as a couple.

"The bus left yesterday," the wild-haired woman reveals down the line. "I didn't have the heart to tell her about your letter."

"That's okay," the blonde whispers down the line, unable to shake the thought of Alex being all alone in an unfamiliar environment. "It's not like it has any use now anyway."

She'd written a letter to Nicky just over 2 weeks ago. It explained she worried about Alex and wanted Nicky to keep an eye on her. It wasn't that she didn't trust her wife because she did; Piper wanted Alex to know that someone was there for her on the inside; she wanted someone to keep Alex company and be able to hear all about how her wife was doing. She'd attached her phone number at the bottom of her letter, indicating that she'd love to hear from the wild-haired woman, but in a period of time that's rocked her current state of being, Piper had forgotten about the letter entirely, only to be reminded by Nicky's call.

"What're you gonna do with yourself now, blondie?" the wild-haired woman asks, attempting to bring a lighter tone to their conversation.

"Well, I've been busy packing my things and the new apartment's ready in a few days, so there's that," she responds, momentarily forgetting her friend is in prison and is unaware as to what she's talking about.

"New apartment, hey! I guess your probation officer loves you."

"Oh, she far from loves me," Piper chuckles. "But my probation is over by the end of the week and then I'm free to move."

"Blondie - you can move apartments while you're on probation," Nicky laughs. "Moving around New York isn't exactly a continent change."

"You're right," Piper joins in with the laughter. "But I don't think they see moving states the same way," she adds, her mouth remaining in a smiling position at the pride she feels in telling someone other than her brother and sister-in-law about her up-and-coming move.

"Holy shit! You're moving states! Damn, blondie, I didn't think you had it in you. Although, from what I've learnt, you'd do anything to have a certain someone _in you_," she adds, clearly pleased with her own joke.

"I promised Alex I'd wait for her. There isn't anything here for me in New York anymore. It's the right thing to do."

"What about your family?" Nicky asks, knowing the blonde - like herself - has a string of questionable family relationships.

"Alex is my family now. My parents will get used to it, and I think my brother actually likes that I'm moving away. I seem to have the knack for waking Goodall at the wrong time."

"Who the fuck is Goodall?"

"My niece."

"Listen, Piper, I have to go," Nicky announces after a few seconds of silence. "I don't have much money left for calls."

"I understand. Once I'm settled in and working I can send you some money over."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know I don't, but I owe you for a lot Nicky. Hearing from you every now and again won't hurt," Piper comments, laughing at Nicky's scoff.

"You take care, blondie."

"You too, Nicky. Thanks for calling."

"Oh, and Piper," the wild-haired woman voices. "Don't fuck up with Alex because you know I'm a sucker for a happy ending."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she replies, smiling into her phone as the call line dies.

Placing her phone back onto the bed, Piper extends back so that the palms of her hands hold up the weight of her arms on the bed's surface. She looks over at the digital clock on the drawers opposite her and notes the time: 11am. She's meant to be meeting her parents at their home for dinner at roughly 6pm, and in knowing the weight of the conversation she's planning on having - and the opinions that her revelation is bound to bring up, the blonde lets out a heavy sigh. She ponders her thoughts for a few more minutes before convincing herself that she should start getting ready; the thoughts of having a warm shower suddenly proving to calm her apprehension.

* * *

It was the first time she'd driven her new car somewhere other than to work, and although it beat taking a variation of different buses, the rapid nature of the journey did nothing but add to her spiralling thoughts as to how this evening could possibly to pan out.

Carol and Bill Chapman's home proved to be as luxurious as it was before she had been in prison, yet the one thing the blonde noticed that proved to be a punch in the gut was the removal of several family and achievement-orientated pictures up from the walls and the fireplace mantelpiece. Piper notes that some images were still present throughout the house - just the ones featuring herself proved sparingly; her parents had even gone as far as moving the picture from her college graduation towards the back of a packed shelf of imaged, keeping it out of immediate eyeline. _I guess having a daughter that landed herself in prison is nothing to be proud of_, she thinks to herself, trying hard to not get too worked up over it; after today, she may be lucky if her family ever speak to her again.

The atmosphere at dinner proved to be somewhat hostile, and by the time the blonde finds herself eating dessert at the large dining room table with only her mother and father present, the mood of the room shifts.

"Have you noticed it's a lot less cluttered around the place, Piper?" her mother asks, causing the younger blonde to finish her mouthful of food and place her spoon up against the side of her plate.

"I did!" she says enthusiastically, biting back her tongue as to ask whether the images of herself around the place were categorised as clutter. "What brought that about?"

"I'd been reading Marie Kondo's new book. Who knew cleaning could be so fulfilling?" Carol says with an optimistic tone, causing Piper's eyebrows to rise - did her time in prison make her mother - the woman who prior never lifted a finger around the house - go mad?

"I guess you only should keep the things that _spark joy_," she responds, placing emphasis on the familiar working of her father, making a point to catch his eye while doing so.

"You should really try it sometime," her mother says, not noticing the underlying tension between her husband and daughter. "Why not ask Cal if you can fix up their place? It'll give you something to do."

"There's no need," Piper begins, shifting her eyes from her father - who's seated directly opposite her - over to her mother - who is seated to the right of her view of her father. "I'm moving out," she reveals, bracing herself for what she knows is yet to come.

"Oh," Carol begins, shifting in her seat. "Honey, is that even allowed. You know, with your-" the woman pauses, unsure how to address her daughter's situation.

"My probation. You can say it, you know. It's not like it's a crime," she adds, voicing her irony through a voice filled with sarcasm. " That finishes at the end of the week. Then I'm free to do whatever I want."

"How're you affording this?" Bill asks, speaking for the first time in what must have been at least 20 minutes.

"I'd been saving my wages and had some money in a savings account," she answers, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I'm not asking for your permission or approval, but I'm moving away."

"Away as in…?" Carol prompts.

"As in a new setting. Ohio," Piper confirms, feeling her leg muscles tense under the table as she awaits a reaction from her parents.

"Piper - why are you doing this now? Just when you're back on your feet with a good job and a good network of people?" Bill asks, sounding irritated, leading Piper's eyes to widen in hearing his reference to her network of people - _more like person_, she thinks, knowing he's alluding to his preferences as to who she should keep in her private life.

"Alex is being transferred to Ohio and I'm moving there so we can be together when she gets out"

"Have you lost your mind?" her father asks, his voice increasing in volume.

"Bill-" Carol tries to intervene.

"When are you going to open your eyes and see that a life with her is no good for you, Piper. You're miserable all the time!"

"Guess why I'm miserable, dad!" the blonde begins, shouting back at her father. "My wife is in prison; I have to pay to pee in a cup; I can't even breathe without doing something wrong - the list is endless! Forgive me for not skipping around at work everyday and acting like everything's fine because it isn't!" she concludes, the vein in her neck bulging out. "I know you don't want me to be with Alex, but I married her because I love her. If this is how you're going to act around me, then maybe moving away is for the best."

"Don't be ridiculous, Piper," Carol begins.

"Am I being ridiculous though, Mom?" she asks in response, trying hard to not cry as she feels an oncoming watery sensation building up in her eyes. "Did removing all traces of me - your daughter - from your home _spark joy_?" she asks, using her fingers to mimic quotation marks.

"We just want you to be happy," her mother says, trying her best to diffuse the situation.

"Well, you sure do have an interesting way of showing it," the blonde laughs before pushing back her chair and walking away towards the front door.

"Oh yeah," her voice echoes down the hallway. "I almost forgot," she continues, appearing back in the dining room with a medium sized brown bag in her hand. "Here's your $50."

The blonde places the bag down in front of her father which is accompanied by a loud thud.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to give it back. My wages weren't all that and my boss is known to be an asshole," the young blonde says, sarcasm oozing from her voice.

She watches her father peer into the bag and clench his jaw.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention that I didn't have any notes available," she shrugs her shoulders with a fake form of sympathy. "I guess you'll have to deal with sorting out a few coins."

With that - not waiting for either of her parents to say a word, Piper leaves their home - a place where she once feared revealing who she really was - and feels a sense of satisfaction. For the first time in her life, she was taking life by the horns, and what that meant for the future relationship with her family, only time would tell.

* * *

_Piper: I can't come to Northampton with you._

After arriving home and taking a bath, Piper finds herself lying on her bed - surprised Cal and Neri still aren't home, awaiting a response to the message she had sent a few minutes prior. She didn't want to lead her friend on - yes, they had slept together, but Piper wasn't willing to trade the love of her life for what had been a developing crush.

_Zelda: You can't or you don't want to? _

She begins typing out her next response - wanting to choose her words carefully, but before she manages to do so, the screen is filled by a dark page whereby green and red buttons indicate her options. Accepting the call, Piper lets out a composing breath, hoping the call doesn't add to the shittiness of her day.

"Hello."

"Piper, hi. I didn't know if I'd hear from you so soon."

"About that," the blonde begins, clearing her throat. "I can't go with you. I'm moving to Ohio."

"Okay…" Zelda responds, sounding confused as to how that's relevant.

"To be with Alex."

"You planning on robbing a bank to end up back in there with her or something?"

"No," Piper says, feeling slightly irritated at the smug tone of voice the other woman had just used. "She's being transferred. I need to at least be in the same state as her."

"I see."

"I'm sorry about everything that happened between us, but I'm married. I love Alex, and-"

"But you still slept with me?" the red-haired woman questions with a patronising tone.

"I'm not the only one whose made mistakes throughout my relationship… my marriage," the blonde begins, not wanting to address the actions her wife had carried out throughout the past few weeks. "But I can't be with anyone else other than her. It's just who I am and I can't change that."

The line is filled with silence, causing Piper to wonder if anyone is even on the other end.

"So I guess this is goodbye then."

"It is, yes," the blonde responds, not really knowing what to say.

"I hope she makes you happy because you deserve it."

"Thanks… she does make me happy," Piper chuckles lightly, feeling her cheeks flush just at the thought of her wife. "I should get going. I don't want to keep you."

"I appreciate your honestly," Zelda says. "Some things just aren't meant to be."

"You're right. There's someone out there waiting for you."

"There better be," the red-haired woman starts laughing loudly. "If I find someone who talks about me the same way you talk about Alex, I'll be lucky."

"I'm sure you will. Good luck with everything."

"And you. Goodbye, Piper."

Taking the phone away from her ear, Piper ends the call and for the first time since she'd left her parents' house, she allows herself to perform a genuine smile.

She'd feared how the conversation would go down - how exactly do you address your love for your incarcerated spouse with your friend whom you may have slept with after a night of disorientation? She's glad Zelda didn't really put up much of a fight - like she said: some things just aren't meant to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**If only something along these lines was featured in the show at some point... this chapter has an M rating. **

* * *

She can't sleep. No matter how tiring she had found the entire process of moving, Piper can't seem to find the rest she's craving. This is the first night she's spending in her new apartment, and although it's smaller than Cal and Neri's house, it's a good size considering the price she paid, as well as the fact that she's the only one living there. The rooms consist of a kitchen, dining space, living room, bathroom and bedroom. It's extremely basic, but regardless of the fact, it was a million times better than being in prison.

She was yet to hear from Alex since her phone call with Nicky. It had given her hope knowing that her wife had taken the time to confide in the woman who played the roll as her best friend during their stint together in Litchfield, and no matter how many times she thinks about it, Piper has to remind herself that Alex is resourceful, and although she may not know anyone in her new prison, it's not exactly the first place you go to to make friends.

The curtains are pulled over, blocking out all traces of light in the bedroom, and despite the sound of the odd vehicle passing by every now and then, the apartment is silent. Silence is almost an overwhelming thing to have for the blonde; she never had a moment's peace in prison given how many other women she was living with, and she most certainly didn't seem to have it living with her younger brother given the development of her niece's vocal cords.

The sound of her mobile vibrating on her nightstand is a welcomed sound, however, and as she leans over from where she's seated against her headboard to look at the screen, she sees an unknown number. The blonde quickly decides to answer regardless, learning from previous experience that every call can count for the person on the other end.

"Hello," she greets, her voice quiet.

"Piper," a husky voice breathes out down the phone line, sounding relieved to be hearing someone actually answer.

"Alex?" Piper asks, her eyebrows raising as she leans her head forward, almost as though that would help her hear better. "How're you calling me?" she asks, immediately worried that her wife will get caught with a phone.

"Some of the old Litchfield girls are here," the brunette begins, "I'm sharing a cell with Jones, you know, the one who used to lead your yoga classes? Yoga Jones. This is her phone, but she let me use it to call you now that the cells are locked for the evening."

"Oh thank God," the blonde verbalises, letting out a sigh of relief. "I was worried you'd be all alone in there," she reveals, running a hand through her blonde hair as she leans back, resting her head back against the headboard.

"You know you don't have to worry about me, Pipes."

"There's a part of me that will always worry, Alex. I can't help it. I'm just glad you have Jones and not them fucking methheads."

"About that-"

"You're in there with them?!" Piper asks, her tone of voice rising.

"They're kinda hard to miss," the brunette says, chuckling. "Except I don't think they're really methheads anymore. I saw them once when it was rec time. Boo and some others are here too," she adds, before pausing. "Anyway, enough about me - I'm the one who called. How was the move?"

"Tiring. I know I don't really have that much stuff, but I drove here and only had my own set of hands to move everything in," Piper says, sounding somewhat irritated just thinking about the fact that she had to move all of her items by herself without so much as a family member offering to help. "I'd do it all over again if it meant I was closer to you though," she reveals, changing to a more sincere tone.

"You're gonna make me blush," Alex says while laughing lightly.

"That'll be a first," Piper returns the sentiment, before again growing curious. "Aren't you going to wake Jones?"

"She sleeps with earplugs in… or at least she put them in knowing I was going to try and call you."

"You do have a habit of whispering quite loudly," Piper says, smiling down the phone.

"I don't think she thought we would be _talking_ per se, Pipes…" Alex reveals, causing the blonde's lower half to clench as a course of desire she hadn't felt since the brunette had sent her a video of herself moaning several months ago runs through her body.

"Oh," is all the blonde manages to voice, not really knowing what her wife's intentions are. "Is that… is that why you called?"

"Not exactly," Alex says honestly, "but now I've heard your voice and I can't lie about the fact that the thought of finally getting to see you in person is really getting me going," she adds through a whisper, again causing Piper's lower half to perform somersaults.

"Okay-" the blonde begins, not sure how to instigate such a thing considering it's been many years since herself and Alex had engaged in phone sex.

"We don't have to if you don't want to, Pipes. I wasn't expecting to feel like this just from hearing your voice," the brunette lets out a breath through her nose, sounding somewhat embarrassed having revealed her current state of arousal.

"I want to," Piper immediately responds, dismissing her wife's insecurities. "I just… I don't want you to get caught."

"If there's one thing I've learnt over the last few days, Pipes, it's that Jones is one hell of a deep sleeper."

"That's not what I meant. Al, I'd never forgive myself if you got caught," the blonde reveals, to which the brunette on the other end immediately understands, knowing what implications she'd face if she were too loud and a CO were to come in and find her with a phone.

"I know," Alex says, causing a bout of silence to fill the line.

"We could… I don't know… send each other some pictures," Piper stutters out slowly, knowing her wife will be aware of the reddening blush that she feels covering her cheeks.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Well, as long as you delete them after considering it's not your phone."

"I'm not dumb enough to leave our messages on here, Pipes," Alex laughs, knowing how uptight the blonde can be about that sort of thing.

"Especially the ones you take," the blonde says seriously, ignoring what her wife had previously said. "Those are for my eyes only."

"Gotcha. I won't let Jones distribute the pictures I'm about to send so that you have something to get yourself off to."

"Alex!" Piper reprimands her wife for her fowardness.

"I'm joking around, kid. I'll make sure to delete them."

"Good. I'm gonna end the call now so we can do this."

"Alright," Alex laughs, knowing that Piper is still secretly in a minor state of panic on her end. "I guess I'll see you in a minute then."

Before she gets the chance to offer a response, Piper ends the call and lets out a heavy breath, feeling her shoulders deflate lower. She'd be lying if she said what they're about to do hasn't turned her on immensely, and although she has some worries in the back of her mind, in realistic terms, she knows nothing is going to happen; she is the louder one out of the two of them anyway.

She isn't sure who's going to start - that's something she should have perhaps clarified, but before she even gets the chance to go to her call list and save the number Alex had called her from so that she can send a message, she'd been beaten to it.

Clicking on the notification, she smiles as she reads what her wife had written.

_Alex: Relax, Pipes. _

She always knew Alex could read her like a book - something she highly doubts will ever change, and as if by magic, her body soon evolves into a state of relaxation whereby the first image her wife had sent allows her to throw her inhibitions out the window.

It's a shot the brunette has taken from where she's lying down. The picture shows her fully clothed body from her torso down to her legs - an introduction as to what's to come. It doesn't show her face, however, as from the angle of the picture, Piper can just about imagine that the brunette was holding the phone up against her collar bone to get a full shot of her body.

Piper bites down on her lip at the idea of this being the equivalent of the 'what're you wearing?' line that Alex would normally say whenever phone sex was being instigated between them, and in letting her wife know she's gotten the memo, the blonde does the same. She holds her phone up against her face and uses the camera to snap a picture of what she's wearing - a black t-shirt and a pair of white night shorts.

Sending the image, Piper decides to get more comfortable; in one motion, she takes off her t-shirt - leaving her top half completely naked, and shuffles so that she's now lying down with her head against her pillow.

It takes another 30 seconds for her to receive another responce; this time, the image shows that Alex has pushed her white, short sleeved t-shirt up to just below her breasts, revealing her toned stomach.

Piper clenches down her jaw at the fact that her wife is depriving her of the image of what she knows is her favourite part of her body, and decides to get the ball rolling a lot quicker. Taking a similar picture of her own body, the blonde smirks as she knows the image of her topless self will please her wife.

It takes a few minutes longer than before when she finally gets her response, and when she does, Piper finds herself more than pleased. This time, a video is attached, in which the brunette moves her t-shirt up to her collarbones to reveal her breasts which she starts to grab with her free hand.

As she watches, Piper finds her hand subconsciously copying her wife's movements, and before she knows it, her hand has trailed down into her night shorts. She uses this as an opportunity to reply; taking a picture of her hand in her shorts and pressing send. She knows she needs to remove the garment, and does so before throwing the item onto the floor, sighing at the feel of her body being in a state of complete nakedness.

Piper can't help but sigh at the fact that Alex is teasing her even through the phone, as the next series of images consists of her hand on her abdominals, her hand pulling her trousers down to the knee, and her hand sliding into her white underwear.

No longer able to resist, Piper runs her hand through her wet folds before nearly getting lost in the sensation and forgetting to reply all together. She does eventually find the resolve to make a video in response, whereby she pulls her hand back and shows her wet fingers to the camera, the flash revealing how covered they really are.

The messages fly to and fro with increasing levels of dirtiness, and it doesn't take long until Piper finds herself in a state in which she knows she won't be returning from. The image of Alex fucking herself will never fail to turn her on, and in this case, it will always help accentuate her own efforts. In receiving one last video in which the brunette's muffled moans can still be heard in the background, the blonde drops her phone to her side as her head flies back and an onslaught of moans rip from her throat - another perk of living alone. She comes with Alex's name on her lips, and by the time she manages to regulate her breathing and return to her phone, she hopes that her wife had also managed to reach her peak.

Removing her hand from her centre, the blonde goes to wipe her fingers on a tissue before getting a better idea. Moving her fingers to her mouth, she takes one last picture and sends it to her wife, knowing how much Alex loved it when she would do that whenever they had sex.

She sees Alex return confirmation that she did indeed also fall apart simultaneously as an image - not quite as explicit as her own - fills the screen. Her right hand is resting on her abdominal region with her wet fingers leaving behind its own imprint on her stomach.

It's another few minutes until her phone again vibrates, and the sentiment of her wife's message makes her heart skip a beat.

_Alex: I love you, kid._

Witnessing Alex profess her love was something she had once wondered whether she'd actually hear again, and although she knows Alex loves her as much as she loves her back, hearing such a thing from her wife is something that will never grow old.

_Piper: I love you too. I'll be at visitation on Friday. _

_Alex: Can't wait. Sleep well, Pipes._

Placing her phone back onto her nightstand, Piper finds herself again noting the silence of her apartment. In her fully naked state her fatigue begins to make itself known, and although she wishes she could stay up just that bit longer to think back through what she had just done, the blonde gives in and takes those thoughts into her dreams.

* * *

"Hey, Carl, remember I won't be in tomorrow," the blonde says from where she's standing by the front door, about to go home after a full day of work.

"Ah yes," the older man says, looking up from where he's writing something down behind the counter. "Good luck with your…" he begins, turning to look up at the staff rota on the wall to see why the blonde has taken the day off.

"I'm going to see my wife," Piper says, filling the silence and answering the question that was bound to come from the fact that she gave no real detail on the staff timetable as to why she needed the day off.

"I can never get away from mine," he laughs before looking back over at the blonde. "Good luck with visiting your wife then," he smiles genuinely before delivering a wave as the blonde returns the gesture and leaves the store.

Piper was pleased that her boss hadn't asked any further questions about why she was visiting the person she had married - as well as the fact that that person is a woman, but over the last week she grew to learn that Carl was an understanding man that didn't tend to pry into other people's personal lives - something she of all people greatly appreciated.

Getting into her car, Piper takes the time to check her phone for the first time since her break several hours ago, and in seeing two missed calls and a voicemail from her mother, she sighs - not too sure how she feels about being in contact with her family quite so soon given how things had ended when they last saw one another. The blonde slides her fingers to the left of the screen to remove the notifications, and her eyes fall on an image that does nothing but elicit a smile.

It's an image of herself and Alex that she had found on an old laptop and transferred over to her phone. The pair are lying on the bed in Alex's New York apartment, whereby the blonde is closest to the camera lying on her side with a smile, while Alex is behind her letting out a last minute half-laughing smile as she is late to realise her picture is being taken. The image makes Piper's heart flutter, and although it's something she'll never grow tired of looking at, the thought of finally getting to go and visit Alex in the flesh the following day proves to provide an overriding sense of elation.


	4. Chapter 4

The setting she finds herself in is unfamiliar. Detail from the posters on the walls to the lay-out of the chairs in the waiting room differs in nearly every way from the times she visited Alex at Litchfield, and although just being on the visiting side of a prison makes her anxiety heighten, the thought that she finally gets to see Alex after weeks of waiting proves as a consolation.

She's directed into the visitation room, and to her surprise, it isn't yet very busy - _I must be early_, she thinks to herself. Providing a further element of surprise, Piper observes the lack of a glass partition present to separate inmates from the person visiting them. It's something at Litchfield that prevented her from doing as little as touch fingers with her wife, and in knowing Alex will be sitting opposite her within a space where they can _actually touch_ one another, the blonde feels a course of excitement rise and make itself apparent in her chest.

A few more people enter the room to take a seat in their directed spot, and as Piper turns and sees the small clock at the back of the room strike to 11am, she knows that any minute now, the inmates will be entering the room. She doesn't have long to wait when the door at the back of the room opens and, led by a CO, a queue of inmates dressed in a dark navy uniform begin to filter out.

When her eyes first land on Alex, the blonde has to prevent herself from crying. Not knowing whether she'd get to see Alex again - not knowing if Alex _even wanted_ to see her again - proved to be pure agony, but in finally getting to see her in the flesh, all thoughts of what had previously happened between them throughout the last few months seemed to fly to the back of her mind.

Blinking her eyes rapidly, Piper watches her wife walk quickly across the room and towards the seat opposite where she herself is seated. She notes that the brunette looks less tired - more energised, perhaps, and although it's something she loves to see, it's the emerald eyes hidden behind familiar black lenses that render her speechless.

Observing her smiling wife take a seat, Piper outstretches her left hand to finally feel some form of contact with her wife while also mirroring a smile. She feels the heat from the brunette's hands - a sign of her nervousness, as Alex moves her hand to meet half-way on the wooden surface separating them to intertwine their fingers in a longing fashion. The moment doesn't last long - they didn't want to get caught breaking any rules before they got a chance to talk, but when they both settle into their seats, the smiles adorning both of their faces seems to prove that they share the feelings of elation given that they're finally seeing one another in person.

"Hi," Alex whispers, breaking the silence as she rubs her hand along her bicep.

"Blue looks nice on you," Piper begins, eyeing her wife's torso before looking back up into her eyes, "considering it's a uniform."

Laughing at the Piper-esque comment, Alex tilts her head back while shrugging her shoulders.

"I try my best," she jokes, causing both women to erupt into toothy smiles.

They remain silent for another few moments, basking in the fact that they're finally in each other's company, and if it weren't for the fact that Piper had been right on time for the 2 hour visitation slot, they'd worry they were wasting time.

No one was occupying the set of seats to the side of Piper's right, making their reunion somewhat private, and although they'd have loved for it to have been under different circumstances, this is their second best bet.

The 'basking' silence eventually shifts into a somewhat awkward phase; what do they even talk about after everything they've recently been through? However, before they manage to dig themselves into a hole of awkwardness, Alex leans forward in her seat and reaches for Piper's hand, guessing it must be allowed given the number of other people holding their visitor's hand throughout the room.

"I don't want this to be like last time," she comments, squeezing the blonde's hand.

"As in our relationship last time or-" Piper trails off, not knowing exactly what her wife meant.

"No, well, minus the drugs, I want that," Alex pauses, thinking carefully about what she's going to say next. "I don't want these visits to feel forced and awkward. I want to be able to talk like a normal married couple and not worry about anything else."

Feeling a light blush cover her cheeks at the sound of Alex calling them a married couple, Piper looks down at their locked hands and smiles.

"I want that too," she nods, leaning forward. "So how is it in there?" she asks, knowing that because of everything they've been through since her own release from prison, they have learnt to be honest with one another.

"Better than Litchfield," the brunette chuckles, releasing their hands so she can rest her head against her palm. "The people are nicer here. I can go and do my own thing and not be bothered - just how I like it."

"How nice?" Piper asks, also moving back to straighten her posture.

"Friendly nice," Alex smiles, sensing an element of jealousy from the woman opposite her. "You have nothing to worry about, Pipes. I'm in this for the long run. If there's one thing I figured out in these last months, it's that I don't want to ever be with anyone except you," she explains, sounding somewhat vulnerable at the end.

"I feel the same way. It's always been you, Alex," the blonde smiles, happy that they're finally in a stage of their relationship where no one is posing any form of threat. "Did you make sure to delete our conversation from the other evening?" Piper goes on to ask.

"Of course I did, kid," the brunette chuckles at the sight of her wife's shoulders deflating out of relaxation. "No one saw the goods except me."

"Your goods," Piper smiles, correcting the woman opposite her as she reaches forwards to grip her right hand. "Just to again reiterate," she adds, fiddling with her wife's long index and middle fingers, knowing those are the ones she likes to use when getting herself off.

With a smirk on her face - clearly aware of what the blonde is doing, Alex bites down on her lip.

"They're all yours in just under 3 years," she responds, looking down at the fingers in Piper's grip.

"1022 days," the blonde corrects, running her tongue along her bottom lip. "Not that I'm counting or anything, but just know that I don't need anyone else, Al. It's not something I really needed before and I certainly don't need it now. I can wait."

"I know that. Plus, I wasn't going to suggest it this time. Too much imagery for my liking."

"I understand," Piper chuckles.

Their talk flows throughout the next hour and a half, whereby conversation took them to the ins and outs of Piper's new apartment, to where they're now discussing how the blonde told her parents about her move to Ohio.

"So you haven't heard from them since?" Alex asks, intrigued by how Piper dealt with the situation, especially what happened with her father.

"My mom's been trying to contact me, but my dad," Piper pauses, tilting her head as though in thought, "not so much," she adds, smiling at Alex's eye roll.

"The offer's still there to fuck him up."

"I don't think we need to give him another excuse to not approve of our relationship, Al. And I don't want you ending up back in here after you get out."

"Of course, Captain Chapman."

"That's Captain Vause-Chapman to you ma'am," Piper says in a deep voice, eliciting a laugh from the woman opposite her.

"It'll all work out in the end, Pipes. You should talk to your mom… she seems to be more understanding?" the brunette says out of question.

"She's been trying, and in fact even went as far as mentioning my bisexuality without turning it into an insult or life lesson."

"Oh, that's a plus!" Alex says sarcastically, yet still happy that someone in Piper's life is attempting to be supportive when she herself can't be there.

The sound of a man announcing that the time for visitation is over breaks the two women out of the bubble they had built around themselves.

"Fuck that went so quick," Piper says, looking around and seeing other pairings stand up to say their goodbyes, moving to do the same.

"At least we got to see each other," Alex comments, also moving into a standing position.

"I'll be here same time next week."

"What about your job?"

"I managed to get Fridays as my day off instead of Saturdays. I don't want to miss out on seeing you every week."

"Thank you, kid. I appreciate that," Alex smiles, leaning forward to pull the blonde into a hug.

"Call me when you can," Piper responds while wrapping her arms around her wife's body, closing her eyes over as though memorising what it feels like to be in the comfort of Alex's arms.

"Of course," Alex says leaning back. "What else do you think keeps me going in here?" she adds rhetorically before smirking and leaning forward to connect their lips.

The kiss elicits elements of longing and relief from both women, and although it doesn't last as long as they would have liked, it's a reminder that they're lucky a glass partition isn't separating them from carrying out such an act.

"I love you," Piper says, placing her right hand against Alex's cheek as she pulls away.

"I love you too," Alex smiles. "So much."

"See you next Friday."

"Can't wait," the brunette says through a toothy smile, for the first time not feeling overriding negative emotions at the thought of Piper leaving, instead telling herself to keep looking forward to whenever she'll see or hear from her wife next, knowing that's what's going to make her time inside pass by so much quicker.

* * *

That's how it continues for the best part of a year. Piper visits every Friday; Alex calls whenever she can. Both women have established a routine whether that being on the inside or outside world, and despite the barriers a relationship burdened by distance and separation inevitably brings, the task to keep going is one that both women have embraced with both hands.

Alex spends the bulk of her time either reading in the library or working out in the outdoors gym facility. Well, by gym, it consists of some basic equipment that can't be moved or cause any harm, but she makes sure to try and utilise the race track to make an attempt at running, remembering the cold mornings Piper would make her go for a run when they were still together and living in New York.

Piper, meanwhile, was promoted at work, meaning she now isn't just a barista and has taken on more of a managerial role. Although it's something Alex heavily praised her for, the blonde made an effort to make it clear that working in a coffee shop was only temporary; Piper wanted to do something more with her life that meant she could help those around her. Subsequently, based on an article she read in the newspaper, the blonde signed up to attend night school, whereby she's studying elements of criminal and federal law, hoping it'll aid her quest to find a higher purpose in both her working and private life.

She'd seen both her parents together a handful of times - well, excluding the number of times her mother would often visit alone, and although a part of her just wants to get on with her father, she can't help but feel hurt by the fact that he can't except who she really is. The last time they'd seen one another was her birthday; Piper had come back from visiting Alex to her parents being parked outside her apartment, and although she felt humbled by the surprise, the eye roll she received from her father having announced that she had just returned from visiting Alex did nothing but add to their hostile relationship.

"Something came in the mail today," Piper says down the phone as she places it down onto her kitchen counter, putting it on speaker.

"Oh yeah. What is it?" Alex asks, as though the blonde can't already tell it's got her wife's handwriting on the front.

"Funny," the blonde responds, knowing the brunette is trying to be comical.

"Give it an open then!"

Despite the mail arriving the day before, Piper had chosen to wait until Alex called at her regular time, whereby she now impatiently moves to open the envelope which she assumes holds a letter inside. Peaking into the envelope, she lets out a throaty gasp at what she sees, immediately guessing - based upon what she herself had sent her wife in the past - what it is.

"Are these what I think they are?" the blonde asks while shoving a hand deep into the large, brown envelope to grab some slips of paper.

"Hmm - say what do you think they are and I'll tell you if you're right or not," Alex says smugly.

_Because you cry every time at the end of Titanic._

_Because your laugh is ridiculously infectious._

_Because your need for speed made me break my finger. _

"Seriously, Al?" the blonde laughs, referring to the last comment she had read.

"Well how else did my finger break? Was the fact it was wedged inside your vagina just a coincidence?"

"You know what I mean," she pauses, smiling at the memory of them as a happy couple before their break up and time in prison.

"Those are the reasons why I love you back," Alex begins, wanting to explain despite knowing it isn't necessary. "I figured you'd gone to a lot of effort to make yours, so I thought I'd return the sentiment."

"Thank you, Al. I really love it."

"I'm glad because ripping that shit up gave me more paper cuts than I'm willing to admit."

"Oh, the things we do for love," Piper sighs sarcastically.

"Gives us some memories to recount when you come on Friday."

"About that," the blonde begins, preparing herself to explain why she won't be attending visitation for the very first time since she moved to Ohio just over a year ago.

"You're not coming?" Alex asks, her tone of voice unable to mask the fact that her heart had just dropped in her chest.

"I'm not too sure if I'll make it in time, but I have an appointment I've been waiting for that I can't change."

"Are you… are you okay?" the brunette asks, unaware that her wife was having problems that she needed to be making some form of appointment.

"I'm perfectly fine, Al. It's not that kind of appointment. It's…" the blonde pauses, trying to carefully calculate what she's about to say next. "I'm preparing for the next time I visit, but this is the only chance I have to get what I need."

"Okay…" the brunette utters, playing along despite having no real idea what her wife is talking about.

"I'm sorry, babe. I know I've never missed one before, but this is important. I think you'll forgive me when I tell you where I went the next time we see each other."

"That's okay. I'll call instead. Look, I need to go; I want to get something from the library before it closes."

"Of course," Piper smiles, happy her wife is still reading as much as she used to. "Only 657 days left. I love you."

"Love you too."

Once the call ends, Piper flicks through more of the pieces of paper adorned with Alex's neat, cursive writing.

_Because you know your way around a hot glue gun._

_Because you attempted to fix my headboard after you broke it. _

Leaning back against the kitchen counter thinking about the memories Alex has painted in her head, Piper smiles, excited for the events she has perfectly planned throughout the coming week.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'd already written a part of this before I saw on Twitter today that people had supposedly found Alex's date of birth. Apparently she was born in February and is 49... I don't know how to feel about that fact. She could be ****younger if it's based on the show's original timeline considering Piper's sentence was originally only 15 months, but knowing how the timeline has been so fucked up as seasons go by, who really knows? I mean, I don't even know for sure how many years it was that Piper and Alex were separated? 6? 8? 10? ****We love consistency. **

**Anyway, happy reading! **

* * *

"Hey," Piper says as she watches Alex sit down opposite her, smiling widely.

"Hey. I missed you last week," the brunette says sincerely, reaching over to connect their hands - something that seems to be some form of ritual they perform at the start of each visitation.

"I know, I'm sorry I couldn't come."

"You don't need to keep apologising," Alex chuckles, squeezing her wife's hand. "I'm just glad you're here now."

"Hmm just when I thought you couldn't get any more cheesy, Al."

"What can I say? Prison's made me it's bitch," she laughs, pulling her hand away while letting out a heavy breath, her shoulders relaxing. "What?" the brunette goes on to ask as she sees her wife's burning gaze boring holes into her face while a close-lipped smile covers her lips.

"Happy Birthday," Piper whispers, her teeth now showing as she smiles widely.

Alex, letting out a light chuckle, lowers her head to fight the blush she can feel on her cheeks. Honestly, her birthday had never been something she really celebrated since herself and Piper parted ways in Paris and her mother died many years ago; she had no one to celebrate it with. However, last year, it was a date in which Piper dragged her into the chapel and showed her just how much the occasion was worth _celebrating_ before the morning's count.

Being that she's in prison, Alex seems to lose track of time. Of course, she counts down the days until it's Friday, knowing that that's when Piper visits weekly, but she never really notes down what the date is. With her wife's admission, the brunette immediately now knows the date: November 11th, and despite the fact that she herself had forgotten her own birthday, the fact that Piper still remembered meant the world to her.

"Thanks, kid," Alex eventually voices, raising her head so that their eyes connect.

"What's wrong?" Piper asks, sensing her wife isn't very enthused by the reminder of her date of birth.

"Nothing," the brunette tries to digress. "It's just," she pauses, tilting her head. "I forgot."

"You forgot your own birthday?" Piper smiles, knowing the woman opposite her is feeling somewhat vulnerable.

"You know what it's like in here. I lose track of time."

"I get it," the blonde nods, not really expecting Alex to explain - she understands what it's like to be confined into a small space without any awareness as to what's going on around you. "Do you remember last year?" she goes on to ask, hoping to change the tune of their conversation as she reaches her arm over to Alex's, running her fingers along the visible part of her forearm courtesy of her rolled up sleeves.

"Like it was yesterday," Alex smiles, knowing her wife's thoughts immediately went back to their alone time in the chapel.

"Just think of all the birthday sex we can have when you're out of here."

"Is it just the birthday sex you want me to think about?" Alex asks, knowing her wife has a habit of letting her imagination run away with her.

"Well…" she stutters, "It'll be a good start… for scientific purposes."

"Whatever you say," the brunette smirks, noting the dark, lust-filled colour taking over Piper's blue eyes. "Enough about that," she begins, pulling her arm back and resting on her elbows. "How did your appointment go last week?"

"You've been dying to ask me that, haven't you?" Piper smiles, knowing that if the tables were turned, she would be going batshit crazy about the possibilities as to what Alex had been doing.

"When your wife can't visit you and won't tell you exactly why, some thoughts run around your head," the brunette responds, keeping a regular tone of voice as to not make the blonde feel guilty - an emotion she wasn't afraid to express when they had spoken on the phone earlier in the week.

"Let's just say I needed to collect something and if I wanted it in time for what I had planned, then was the only option."

"Just tell me what it was already, goddammit!" Alex says, sounding desperate to know what her wife is hiding from her.

"Alright, calm down," Piper chuckles before reaching up to undo two more buttons on the buttoned-up light blue shirt she was wearing.

"Whoa, I don't think that's appropriate," the brunette says, eyes widening.

"I'm not taking it off," the blonde replies, rolling her eyes in a humorous fashion before reaching into the enlarged v-shaped gap in her shirt to grab the necklace chain hanging from her neck.

"Piper," Alex warns, letting the woman opposite her know that she's growing impatient by the lack of explanation she's receiving.

"Last week, I had to travel back to New York to collect this," she reveals as her hand pulls out the necklace, but keeping her fist clenched over whatever is attached at the bottom, keeping it out of view. "I wanted to give you something for your birthday… well, I can't exactly _give_ it to you right now, but I want you to see it and know the meaning behind it."

"Okay…" Alex mumbles, suddenly feeling anxious.

"I can return it if you think it's a dumb idea, but that'll mean I'll probably have to miss another visitation. You know, I only have Friday and Sunday off from work," the blonde begins to ramble - a sign that she's feeling equally - if not more - anxious than her wife.

"Piper - I'm sure I'll love it."

"I hope so because it wasn't cheap," Piper begins, finally releasing her fist to reveal what was attached to her necklace for the first time.

In what she never in a million years would have expected, Alex's eyes fall onto a silver ring that's plain and simple around the band, but has a small diamond in the middle. Her eyes flicker back up to Piper's oceanic blues and in seeing a smile spread across her wife's lips, Alex feels more and more questions shoot into her head.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asks, shock evident in her voice.

"I thought that considering I was the one who proposed, you deserved an engagement ring," Piper reveals, the giddy look still on her face. "I know we're married now, but this is something for you to wear when you get out. I want you to know that our marriage means everything to me, Alex, and even though it's not been easy, when you're out of here we can really be together like as a family."

"Pipes-" Alex utters, her voice filled with emotion. "I…"

"It's okay," the blonde adds, "you don't have to say anything right now. Just know that I love you Alex and I want to make you happy."

"You do make me happy," the brunette manages to get out. "Seriously, Pipes, I love it. Thank you," she continues, reaching across to touch the ring as the blonde also leans forward to make the action a lot easier. "How did you even afford this?" Alex asks, knowing money was something her wife had previously voiced concerns about - especially considering most of what she had saved was spent on her move to Ohio.

"You don't need to worry about that. All purchased legally," she smiles, watching Alex remove her hand and lean back to her own side of the table.

"But now you don't have a ring. That isn't fair."

"You're not the one that proposed, Al. It's my turn to be the one to buy you these kind of gifts."

"Prison really did a number on you, didn't it?"

"No, I think you're the one that did a number on me. Prison facilitated," the blonde smiles, but that soon vanishes as the announcement that visitation is ending is voiced through the room's tannoy.

"Thank you for coming on my birthday," Alex says, standing up and pulling Piper into a hug.

"Of course I'm here on your birthday," she smiles, tightening her arms around her wife's shoulders. "Counting down the days until I can put this on here," the smaller woman adds, moving her hand down to capture Alex's left hand, rubbing along the space above her wedding ring.

"You and me both, kid," the brunette responds before capturing their lips in a short kiss. "I'll call you soon."

"Remember I'm going home this week for Thanksgiving. I have the week off work, but I'll still be here to visit next Friday."

"Have fun slaying giants," Alex smiles, pulling back entirely before they get told off by one of the observing COs.

"I think I'll need it," Piper raises her eyebrows in agreement, both knowing that heading back to see the Chapman could result in many different turn of events, both good and bad.

* * *

"How's school going, Piper?" Neri asks from across the dining table, conversation flowing surprisingly well so far.

"Great, thanks! The course is just over a year long, so I have my final exams soon," the blonde responds after taking a sip from her wine glass.

"Maybe you'll be of help researching a school for this little one here," the dark-haired woman responds, using her hand to play with the hair on her daughter's head who is seated between herself and Cal in a high chair.

"Oh, I don't know about that," the blonde begins, not expecting her sister-in-law to be wanting her input in such a thing. "It's night school for adults, Neri; I wouldn't even know where to begin with children's schooling."

"Just think of it as a form of preparation for when you have your own," Neri voices, her lack of filter again making itself known.

Piper ponders what to respond; looking after her niece alone somewhat made her question whether she wanted children, and in not knowing what Alex felt about having children of their own, she chose to brush off the concept, not wanting to make the dinner table erupt into an investigation about her private life - it wouldn't be the first time something like that happened.

"Isn't it too soon to be thinking about that kind of thing anyway? She's nearly turning two."

"We like to be prepared," Cal chimes in. "Studies show the more prepared you are as a parent, the more likely your child is to succeed."

Piper raises her eyebrows at this, questioning the truth of such a statement. She wonders if her parents think of her as a failure - perhaps they didn't prepare well enough when she was growing up.

"I think it's nice they want you involved, Piper," her mother begins, joining the conversation for the first time. "You can claim that you're the favourite aunt," she adds, knowing Neri doesn't have any sisters to be offended by the comment.

"Ah, from what I've heard, I think Alex might take that spot," Cal says, laughing loudly as he thinks back to some of the stories Piper had shared back when they'd played hookie for the day and each took one of his innovative 'bloobs'.

Piper's eyes shoot open as she looks over at her brother. She'd never heard anyone in her family really voice anything good about her wife, and in hearing her brother say such a positive comment in front of everyone, it makes her smile, happy that at least someone accepts who she is.

"She definitely will take that crown for sure," Piper laughs, despite noting her father's head turning away in disgust. "It was her birthday last Friday and she seemed in high spirits," she adds, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't her who brought her wife into the conversation.

"How long is left now?" Carol asks, making Piper feel a sense of happiness that her mother is at least trying.

"640 days."

"Not that you're counting or anything," Cal adds with a smile.

As if by coincidence, Piper feels her phone ringing in her pocket. Reaching down to grab the vibrating device, she sees the familiar number belonging to Alex's prison in Ohio.

"It's her now," she says out loud, pushing her chair back to excuse herself from the room.

"Piper, we're having dinner," her father decides to chime in.

"I'm not stopping you from continuing," she says sharply, answering the phone and leaving the room, waiting for the automated voice on the other end to finish.

"Alex?"

"Hey, Pipes," her wife's husky voice comes down the phone line, making Piper smile to herself.

"How are you?"

"Everything's been okay here I guess. How's Connecticut?"

"It's been okay so far. No arguments. What do you mean by I guess?"

Hearing her wife sigh down the phone makes Piper's heart clench out of worry.

"I just miss you. That's all."

The blonde immediately understands where Alex is coming from; Thanksgiving always used to be a holiday that they spent together when they were a couple - they even spent it with the brunette's mother one time.

"I miss you too," she pauses. "I'm sorry I've been insensitive. I know this holiday meant a lot to you."

"I want you to enjoy yourself without worrying about me, Pipes. It's not so bad here. I can't say I want slop every year for my Thanksgiving dinner, but it'll have to do."

"I guess this is an anniversary for us," the blonde says, biting down on her lip.

"What do you mean?"

"Last Thanksgiving in the chapel. We had sex for the first time in 8 years."

"Ah, you're right right after you got out the SHU. I like where you're going with this," the brunette responds with a seductive tone.

"We can't Alex," Piper chuckles, knowing that can't happen both while she's in the middle of having dinner with her family, and while Alex is standing out in the open using one of the cell block telephones.

"I know," she joins in with the laughter. "Maybe later. How's it been with your dad?"

"He hasn't really said much, but he seemed pissed when you called. You were mentioned at the table though."

"I was? Who tried to persuade you to run this time?"

"No one, actually. Cal said you'd be the cool aunt out of the two of us."

"What?" Alex laughs.

"I know. I was surprised too. They seem to be coming around to the fact that we're married."

"Except Bill."

"Except my dad, yeah. He hates that we're married," she laughs, trying to make light of the situation.

"I still love you, no matter what your family say, Pipes."

"I know. I love you too," the blonde says. "I should go. Do you have enough money to call tomorrow?"

"I do, but I won't be calling tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Jones said I could use her phone again tonight…" Alex explains, causing Piper's thighs to clench together at the memory of what happened the last time her wife borrowed her cell mate's phone.

"So you just want me for my body?" the blonde laughs, knowing Alex can hear the humour in her question. "Not that I'm mad about it."

"By all means, I'll tell her I don't need to use it."

"No, I'm kidding!" Piper immediately butts in. "You can call later. I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm sure it's not the only thing you're looking forward to," Alex flirts, knowing such a statement would elicit a shade of red to cover her wife's cheeks.

"Oh, you know me so well. I love you, Al."

"Love you more. I have to go but I'll call later."

Before she gets the chance to respond, the call ends. Piper's left standing against the hallway wall with a smile on her face. Giving herself a few seconds to collect herself, she walks back into the dining room and her entire family are looking directly at her.

"What?" she asks, wondering why she's receiving such a mixed reaction from everyone.

"You fucked Alex in the chapel?" Cal laughs loudly as he asks his question, and it's in this moment Piper realises everyone could hear the entire conversation she had just had with her wife.

"It was prison, Cal. There's not a whole lot of options."

"Well you have phones now I guess," Neri adds.

"No, Alex doesn't have a phone to do that kind of thing."

"Pipes, we literally could hear everything you were saying," Cal also adds, reminding his sister the entire table heard of the suggestive comments that were made about plans for later in the evening.

"Okay, I think it's time to change the topic," the blonde says, moving to return to her seat.

Before they have the chance to start another conversation, Bill gets up from the table without so much as saying a word, and leaves the room.

"He heard what you said," Carol voices, trying to explain her husband's departure.

"I know. You all did according to Cal."

"No. He heard what you said about him."

"Oh," Piper realises what her mother is alluding to. "It wasn't exactly a lie. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't agree with my marriage. Several times in fact."

"It's not easy for him you know, Piper. He's trying."

"Mom, he can't even look at me anymore; he doesn't ever try and call, and whenever Alex is brought up, he acts like the world is ending."

"Just go and talk to him. Please," Carol pleads.

"If you insist," the blonde rolls her eyes, again getting up from the table but this time with the intentions of finding her father.

It doesn't take her long until she finds him sitting alone outside on one of the patio chairs. He looks sad, she notes, and although a part of her feels sorry for the man, she knows that sympathy isn't what her father wants nor what he particularly deserves.

"Is it okay if I join you?" Piper asks as she steps outside and closes over the glass door.

"Sure," Bill responds, taking a sip from his small glass of - what Piper is guessing is - whiskey.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all of that," she begins, taking the seat next to her father yet keeping her eyes trained forwards just as he is doing.

"What part?"

"I'm not going to do this with you. I'm not going to let you turn this around like I'm in the wrong. Yes, I'm sorry that you heard some of the things I was talking about, but why does hearing something you already know is true make you flip out? You've made it clear you don't like Alex - and you certainly don't like the fact that I'm married to her, but nothing you say or do will change that. It upsets me that you can't just be happy for me. I'm your daughter," Piper concludes emotionally as she begins to feel tears falling from her eyes.

"It's not about that," Bill attempts to explain before he's cut off.

"No, Dad. This is _exactly_ what this is about. You can't accept that I went to prison and ended up marrying an ex-drug smuggling lesbian. Because that's how you see her, isn't it?"

"I am happy for you, Piper. You're finally making your own decisions using your adult brain. I may not agree with them entirely, but I know I can't stop you."

"Then why won't you at least treat me like a human being with feelings?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," the man reveals, turning to face his daughter, his brown eyes showing no real sign of emotion.

"I won't. Alex and I are past that. We love each other, and even if she were in prison for the next 10 years that wouldn't change."

Bill doesn't respond, instead turning back forwards and taking a sip from his drink.

"So what's this Alex like then? Tell me about her."

Piper is initially surprised by the request, yet in this moment it strikes her that her family don't really know anything about her wife - only the negative minor details about their past together. Sure, she'd shown Cal and Neri some pictures, but she doesn't even think her parents know what Alex looks like.

"Well, she's tall, has long, dark hair, green eyes, glasses - the ones that a typical librarian would wear… we used to joke about that," she explains, nearly losing herself just at the thought of her wife.

"Piper," her father interrupts, causing her to pause mid-way through her list. "I meant what is she like - her personality. Not what she looks like."

"Oh," the blonde ponders, finding it difficult to choose the right words to even begin to describe Alex. "She's an enigma; she's sarcastic; she's intelligent; she knows exactly where to find the best value for your money; she likes to read; she's secretly soft on the inside but tries to downplay it..."

Once she gets the feeling that she's rambling, Piper pauses and turns to see her father looking her way.

"You really like her, don't you?"

"I _love_ her, Dad."

The older man takes another few seconds before responding.

"So what kind of books does she like to read?" he asks in a more timid fashion.

While Piper attempts to stifle a smile at her father's attempts to seem engaged, she appreciates that he's trying to make an effort rather than continue to downplay her relationship. She knows it's going to take a lot more time, but she'll take any progress she can - regardless of what form it comes in.


	6. Chapter 6

**I won't be updating for the next 10 days, so here's something for you. **

**Please let me know what you'd like to see in the future as I'm planning for some small time jumps to prevent this from dragging on. Thanks!**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

"Oh, God, Alex," Piper breathes out, her right hand wedged into the front of her unbuttoned jeans.

Having abandoned her iPhone from her left hand to grab her breast, the device rests between her left shoulder and neck so that she can still hear Alex on the other end. Initially, the blonde had again brought up her worry about her wife being heard having such a conversation, but after much persuasion that there's no way she'd get caught on her end, Piper's growing desire overpowered her logical thought processes.

Being that she's currently in her old bedroom at her parents' house, the blonde is also trying to be quiet. She knows it's not something she isn't particularly good at - even Cal and Neri could vouch for that line of argument, and in not wanting to herself get caught, Piper tries to reach her climax as quickly as possible.

Phone sex between herself and Alex had been minimal. The latter didn't own a phone to make these forms of contact and was lucky whenever she could borrow one; on Piper's end, her urges were fulfilled by looking back at the images Alex had first sent over a year ago when they first sexted - Alex had to delete the media on her end, but the blonde didn't.

"Slow down there, kid," the brunette's deep voice flows through the line, sensing Piper is way closer to the edge than she is.

"I can't, Al, I'm close," the blonde pants out, almost as though the ability to speak is momentarily lost on her.

"Jesus, Piper," Alex grunts out - a sign that she's doubling her efforts to catch up with her wife.

Shutting her eyes over, Piper begins to feel her body taking over; her back arches, her head is thrown back, and just as she's about to let Alex know she's about to lose it, the sound of a knock followed by the twisting of the bedroom door handle causes her eyes to shoot open.

"Alex, wait," she whispers, not wanting the person coming in to know what she's been doing and not wanting her wife to continue without her.

The blonde feels as though she's already given herself away, however, as when her guest enters the room, they're faced with the image of a flushed Piper breathing heavily with her t-shirt pulled up over her abdomen, and her hand retreating from her unbuttoned jeans.

"Mom!" Piper says in a rushed manner, raising her neck slightly as she feels her face redden.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you'd be busy," the older blonde says, eyeing her daughter suspiciously as she watches Piper rapidly pull down her t-shirt over the front of her jeans.

Piper, meanwhile, feels a flood of conflicting emotions. Yes, her mother just walked in on her masturbating, but even worse, she can still hear everything Alex is doing on her end through the phone still by her ear. The sounds coming out of her wife's mouth are muffled - leading the blonde to wonder if she's biting into a pillow to not be heard, but the questions in her head soon disappear as Alex begins to speak.

"Pipes, I'm gonna cum," the husky voice warns, unaware of what situation she's currently missing out on.

"I was just-" the blonde goes to explain before her mother continues - probably not needing much of an explanation if she were able to hear any of her daughter's vocalisations from down the hall.

"I just need you to quickly sign this for me," Carol says, holding out a card. "It's for your uncle's birthday but your father's seeing him tomorrow and will hand it over."

"Um, okay, I'll be down in a moment," the blonde responds as she sits up on her elbows, suddenly panicked by the idea that her right hand - the hand that she writes with - is currently covered in her arousal.

"Piper - you'll forget. Just do it now here," her mother begins, taking a further step into the room with the card in one hand and a pen in the other.

"No!" the blonde nearly shouts, causing Carol to stop on the spot, not expecting her daughter to raise her voice like that. "It's just that…" she pauses, trying hard to not let her eyes close over and her thighs clench as she ever so slightly can hear the sounds of Alex moaning uncontrollably in her ear - a sign that she's mid-way through her orgasm. "I'm on the phone to Alex," she explains, not knowing whether she's more embarrassed or relieved by the fact that her mother probably now knows for sure what she was doing before she was interrupted and why.

"Oh," the older blonde pauses. "You should have said, Piper! I won't waste your time," she adds, turning around to exit the room. "Tell Alex I said hi," she concludes with what looks like an embarrassed smile and closes the door over.

Letting out a large huff, Piper lets herself fall back onto the bed so that she's now lying stationary. Using her left hand, she holds her phone up against her hear as she listens to Alex trying to calm down her breathing.

"Fuck, I needed that," the brunette says, sounding a lot more relaxed. "Don't think I've ever heard you so quiet when getting yourself off," she jokes, unaware of the reasons behind that.

"That's because I didn't cum," Piper bluntly responds, feeling agitated that her body is full with pent-up emotion yet also feels like an ice-cold bucket of water had been chucked over it.

"What do you mean you didn't cum?" the brunette asks, and Piper immediately feels guilt for her choice in wording; she can imagine Alex falling into a daydream of pity as what she envisions is her first failed attempt at making her wife come.

"My mom walked in while I was in the middle of… you know..."

"Holy shit, Pipes," Alex exclaims, but that doesn't stop her light laughter from buzzing down the line. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. She wanted me to sign something but obviously I couldn't just grab the pen and sign my name with the hand that I had up my vagina a few seconds before."

"Now that's embarrassing," Alex again chuckles.

"Seeing her at breakfast in the morning is going to be fun."

"Just think of it like me walking in or something."

"Ew, Alex. What the fuck?" Piper exclaims. "When did I ever complain when you walked in on me getting off?" she asks, eyebrows rising at the imagery her wife created.

"Okay, sorry, wrong wording. I'll just shut up," the brunette's laughter ends as the phone line momentarily goes silent. "Do you want me to help you…" she begins, probing whether Piper wanted to pick back up where she had left off or leave it for the time being.

"Honestly, I don't think I even want to try," she sighs, closing her eyes over as she tries to find a state of relaxation similar to the one she was previously in. "To make it worse, I still had the phone by my ear so I could hear you coming while I was talking to my mom."

"Fuck," Alex again laughs. "At least now you know to always lock you door."

"It didn't even slip my mind. I'm now so used to living on my own."

"It's not the end of the world. It could have been worse; you could have been moaning and everything when she walked in."

"Can we just stop talking about it?" the blonde asks, wanting to forget the entire ordeal.

"Sure, kid. I'll let you go and get your beauty sleep."

"Cal asked if he can come with me when I visit in two weeks' time," Piper states out of question.

"That'd be great!" Alex agrees, and the blonde can imagine her wife smiling as she talks. "Is that allowed?"

"You'll have to get him added to your list, but we can go through that when I come on Friday."

"I can't wait to see you."

"Same here. Love you, Al."

"Love you too, Pipes."

Piper ends the call and finds herself smiling into the ceiling. Yes, what had just happened was embarrassing, but it was nice to get to talk to Alex knowing no one was listening in. _Think of the stories you'll have_, she imagines Alex saying, and although this one was somewhat funny, it's one she never wants to think about again.

* * *

"Mrs Vause-Chapman," a man who instantly recognises Piper in the prison waiting room walks over in greeting.

"Hi. Is everything okay? Visitation was meant to start 10 minutes ago." the blonde asks, wondering why people are being sent through in different waves.

"We're aware and any lost time will be added on at the end for you," the main straightens his back as he holds his arm out as a request for the blonde to follow. "This way please."

For a moment, Piper freezes; why is the CO leading them in a different direction away from the normal visitation room? As she begins to spiral into an internal panic, she feels Cal's hand land on her back followed by a reassuring rubbing motion.

"Everything's fine, Pipes. I'm here. Just do what he says."

The words from her younger brother immediately calm her nerves - even thinking of a possibility that they've come to lock her back up was a ridiculous thought on her part, yet it's something she can't ever not think whenever she visits Alex in prison.

"There was an altercation in the usual visitation room earlier," the man informs as he begins to walk them through an unfamiliar set of doors. "A fight between two inmates with a past so we're taking you to the room we used to use for visitation."

"Was anyone hurt?" Piper asks, feeling like she needs to know despite being fully aware that Alex wouldn't have been in the room during the day's first spell of visitors; their time slot is now.

"Some punches were thrown and there was some blood," the man says, turning left and opening a new door. "Nothing to worry about though. Everything's being dealt with," he smiles before leading the pair through the threshold. "Sit anywhere; she'll be sent over in a minute."

"Thank you," Piper smiles before looking at the lay-out in front of them. Her heart soars as she sees a number of round, picnic-like tables with attached stools around the room, and in looking at the other few people already with the person they're visiting, the blonde notes that you have the opportunity to actually sit next to the person you're visiting with no form of physical boundary separating you.

Choosing to sit at a round table that is somewhat private with no one sitting near, Piper takes a seat before Cal plonks down next to her.

"Vause-Chapman, hey," he comments, alluding to how the prison guard had previously addressed her.

"Shut up," she smiles, not wanting her brother to take the piss out of her - especially given the fact she used to be so vocal about finding double-barrelled surnames irritating.

"I'm not fucking with you," Cal says, holding his hands up as though surrendering. "I like it."

"Well it's staying that way whether you like it or not," the blonde responds, smiling at her brother.

"How're you feeling? Nervous?" the man asks, sensing his sister is on edge.

"I just really want you to like her. I know our relationship has been fucked up, but that's all in the past now."

"I'm sure I'll love her. She sounds great from some of the stories you've told me so far."

"Yeah, she is pretty great," Piper turns her head to her brother, letting out a genuine smile.

"Holy shit," Cal whispers as he looks over his sister's shoulder. "That's her?"

Turning her head around, Piper's eyes land on Alex whose immediately meet her own. They both share a toothy smile as the brunette begins to walk their way.

"You didn't tell me she was _that_ hot!" Cal says, jaw practically resting on the floor.

"Hot and taken," the blonde winks. "And that's your sister-in-law you fucker," she scalds, despite knowing her brother is joking.

Facing back to the front, Piper stands up and moves from the small stool she was sitting on. Once Alex arrives, she pulls her into a longing hug, burying her face into her neck. Alex soon moves back and places a hand on the blonde's cheek, pulling her into a brief kiss.

"Hey," the brunette says once Piper pulls back.

"Hi," Piper responds, staring into the taller woman's green eyes out of awe, almost forgetting that she isn't there alone. Turning so that she's now side-on between her counterparts, Piper begins to make introductions. "Alex, this is my younger brother, Cal. Cal, this is my wife, Alex," she explains, using her arms to point out who is who.

"It's great to finally meet you, Alex," Cal says in his now standing position as he holds out a hand to shake. "I've heard many things about you."

"Mostly good I hope," the taller woman smiles, reaching forward to shake Cal's hand. "It's nice to finally meet someone from Piper's family."

"Starting with me is a wise choice," Cal raises his eyebrows. "You wait for Mr and Mrs Chapman."

"Believe me when I say I know all about that," Alex smiles, joining in with the smaller man's laughter. "How's life with a child now, Cal?" she goes on to ask, intertwining her right hand with Piper's left as they all sit down.

"A fucking nightmare," the man groans before softening his expression. "Well, of course I love my daughter, but she can be a bit of a handful."

"Must be in the Chapman genes," the brunette comments through a smile.

"Oh, you should have seen this one looking after her. I don't think I've ever seen someone manage to wake up a sleeping baby so successfully by just breathing," he laughs, in which Alex joins in at the imagery.

"I wasn't that bad," Piper tries to defend herself.

"Neri and I would think the baby was sleeping but it turns out the monitor wasn't working because of a certain someone's vibrator."

"What?" Alex laughs, eyes wide.

"It wasn't my fault the frequencies clashed, okay! Drop it, Cal," she pleads, not wanting to give Alex some material to hold over her.

"Could have been worse. You could have walked in on her going at it," Alex begins through a smirk.

"Al-" Piper warns, sensing where her wife was going with this.

"Or someone else could have," the brunette finishes, biting down on her lower lip and switching her vision over to the blushing blonde.

"Wait what?!" Cal asks, sensing there's something he doesn't know.

"You didn't tell him?" Alex asks with wide eyes.

"No. It's embarrassing enough as it is nevermind sharing it around," the blonde whisper-shouts to her wife, but fails to keep her brother out the loop.

"So, is anyone going to tell me or am I going to have to ask around at home?" Cal probes, knowing that's the last thing his sister will want.

"When we stayed at Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving, Mom may have walked in on me when I was on the phone to Alex having a very particular conversation... " Piper tries to explain, hoping her brother understands what she's trying to say.

"No way!" he laughs, his head tilting backwards. "I thought you said there were no phones around for that kind of thing?" he asks, leaning forward as though conscious of being heard.

"No, I said Alex didn't have a phone for that kind of thing. They're around for sure."

"So how did you…?"

"I can't reveal all my secrets at once, Cal," Alex winks, causing Piper to smile at the fact that she isn't the only Chapman to have fallen for Alex's irresistible charm.

The conversation continues with more comedic tones throughout the time they have together, whereby Alex and Cal revel in their main thing they have in common: Piper. In fact, the group were in for a surprise when a familiar face too enters the visitation room, and no one could prepare themselves for what was about to come out her mouth.

"Fancy seeing you here, Chapman. It's a change seeing you up top and not between Vause's legs. You had more of a snack that you bargained for that time in the pantry," Boo - someone who Piper immediately recognises from her time at Litchfield - comments, winking as she makes her way towards them.

"You're right," the blonde laughs, remembering the time Boo had indeed walked in on herself and Alex during the early stages of an more _intimate_ moment together. "We only do that with a max of one person watching, so that's for another day," she adds humorously, causing a throaty laugh to be returned.

"I knew I always liked you, Chapman. Even though you stole my dildo," Boo responds before eventually continuing to walk past and head to a table at the back of the room to sit with the person already waiting for her.

"Who the fuck was that?" Cal asks, eyes wide and full of confusion.

"Boo," both women respond at the same time before looking at one another while laughing at Cal's reaction.

"She was with us at Litchfield but was sent here after the riot," Alex explains, smiling at the clogs ticking in Piper's brother's head - a trait she's witnessed many times on behalf of her wife.

He nods for a moment before pausing and looking at his sister, over to Alex, and then back over to his sister.

"You two fucked in the pantry as well as the chapel?!" he asks. "Did you spend your entire sentence just fucking around?"

"Something like that," Alex says through a smirk, squeezing her hand still intertwined with Piper's, revelling in the memories that she knows are also flooding through her wife's head at this current moment in time.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back home now, but updates will be slowing down as I'm heading back to uni soon... **

**I'm trying to make this realistic and unpredictable, so forgive me as I try and get out of my writers' block phase. **

**Let me know what you think! **

* * *

"Fuck!" Piper shouts as she frantically runs from the bathroom into the living area, looking for her ringing phone.

Having just gotten out of the shower, her wet, blonde hair is thrown into a messy bun, and a white towel is wrapped around her naked body.

"Hello," she says, slightly out of breath, and in hearing the beginning introduction of a prison's automated calling system, she momentarily relaxes, having been looking forward to hearing her wife's voice since they had last spoken on the phone a few days before.

When she eventually accepts and the phone line connects through, it isn't the voice she had been craving that greets her on the other end; if she had paid attention, she would have realised the mention of Litchfield in the call's initial greeting.

"Blondie!" she hears Nicky welcome, evident that something on her end has put her in a good mood.

"Nicky?" Piper questions, immediately recognising her friend on the other end of the line. "Is everything okay?" she goes on to ask, feeling a sense of worry that the wild-haired woman is using her call time to contact her.

"Everything's as good as they could be - well, apart from the fact that I'm in prison, but I'm surviving. What about you? What're you up to?"

"I'm good. Between working and seeing Alex, I've been keeping myself busy."

"Alex is still in the picture I see," Nicky comments, and Piper is reminded of how long it's been since she'd last heard from her wild-haired friend.

"Of course she is. I didn't move here for any other reason, Nicky."

"I know that - I was just making sure," Nicky chuckles down the line. "Thank you for the money by the way. It finally came through," she adds, sounding grateful.

"I promised I would, didn't I," Piper responds, smiling at the image of a vulnerable Nicky giving thanks over the phone line. "I'm sorry it took longer than I thought. There were some complications as an ex-inmate providing a current one with commissary money."

"That's okay," Nicky laughs. "I wouldn't go to you anyway if I needed a source of drugs money."

"Hey!" the blonde comments, jokingly sounding offended.

"Oh come on, we both know it would be the other Vause I'd contact."

"Well I have you know I was the one who carried the money," Piper explains, feeling her cheeks flush at the sound of Nicky referring her to as a Vause.

"And look where that landed you: in fucking prison," Nicky laughs, to which Piper too joins in. "No, seriously, thank you, Piper. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," the blonde smiles, happy to hear a familiar voice that isn't berating her for her life choices.

"So how's Vause doing over there?"

"She's good. She prefers this new place to Litchfield and some of the old girls are there, so she's not all on her own. I visit every Friday; it's nice that we at least get to see each other fairly often."

"Who'd thought Vause of all people would be tied down, hey?"

"I mean, we were in a committed relationship and never discussed marriage before, so I'll have to agree with you there," Piper laughs, remembering Nicky's shocked reaction when she heard about her proposal to Alex in the first place. "What about you? Anyone caught your eye in there?"

"Ahha! Is that you're attempt in asking about Lorna and I? It's safe to say I think that ship's sailed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Piper says quietly, feeling bad for her friend - especially knowing what it's like to be on the receiving end of loving someone wholeheartedly yet facing a form of rejection. "And I didn't mean that explicitly… I meant in general."

"Not really. The kitchen - along with Red's condition - is keeping me on my toes at the minute."

"Red's condition? Why? What's wrong with her?"

"Did Vause not tell you?"

"Whatever it is, she didn't," the blonde responds, not knowing how to feel about the fact that Alex hadn't informed her.

"Or maybe I didn't even tell her," Nicky says, pausing in thought as she thinks back to whether she had even told the blonde's wife to begin with. "I can't remember," she laughs in a manner of self-pity. "But it's Red's memory that's the real problem. Dementia."

"Oh," Piper pauses, feeling bad despite how things had left off between herself and Red. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too, blondie. Seems like the shitty things only happen to the best of us."

* * *

"Maybe she's just hitting on you," Alex voices huskily from where she's seated, smiling at her wife's surprised facial expression.

"Nicky?" Piper raises her eyebrows. "I don't know whether I feel flattered or not. Why? Are you worried she's posing a threat?" she jokes, placing her hand on top of Alex's from where they're again seated next to each other in the prison's now favoured visitation room.

"Of course I'm not worried," the brunette smiles. "Nicky's too short for you anyway," she adds, poorly managing to hide her disgust at the imagery of her friend flirting with her wife. "Plus, I was kidding. You're probably the only person other than her mom that she can call - except you'll actually pick up and have a conversation with her."

"I didn't realise it was that bad with her family."

"She doesn't like talking about it. I don't blame her to be honest," Alex reveals, pulling her hand back to push her glasses back onto the top of her nose. "Anyway, enough about Nicky. I want to hear about you. How did your exam go?" she goes on to ask, now placing her hand on the top of Piper's left thigh, squeezing the skin gently.

Earlier that week, Piper had taken her final law exam. Alex had called the night before wishing her wife luck, and although the blonde voiced her worries and anxieties, both women knew deep down inside that she had nothing to worry about; Piper had mastered the art of putting her head in a book since a young age.

Initially tensing at the feeling of Alex's warm hand on the top of her thigh, the blonde hesitates.

"It went well I think. Some of the questions were challenging, but I managed to answer everything."

"So no more night school?"

"No more night school," Piper confirms, tilting her head back as though showing her relief. "Unless I want to continue with something else, but I think I'll take advantage of not having to do any school work for a little while."

"I'm proud of you, Pipes."

"I feel like I've just teleported back to your old bunk," the blonde responds, alluding to the last time Alex had voiced such a thing.

"You have quite the memory, kid," Alex smiles, watching the light blush rise on her wife's cheeks. "But seriously: I'm glad you're not moping around out there," she adds, subconsciously moving her hand further up Piper's thigh under the table.

Without offering a response, Piper's hand shoots down to rest on top of Alex's, preventing her from moving any further.

"Al," she whispers in warning.

"Yeah?" the brunette responds, obviously not aware of the effect she's having on the blonde.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm just sitting here. What do you mean?" Alex asks, sounding confused.

"Your hand," Piper says, squeezing her wife's fingers. .

"My hand?" the brunette voices before looking down. "Oh. Sorry," she immediately apologises, not having realised where she had been resting.

"It's okay," the blonde smiles, moving her hand onto Alex's forearm to prevent her from moving away entirely. "I like finally being able to touch."

"Still. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Alex, you didn't make me uncomfortable," Piper smirks. "I just wasn't expecting it, and, quite frankly, I don't want to spontaneously combust in the middle of a prison visitation room."

"I know the feeling, kid," the brunette smiles, lowering her vision as she watches her wife run her fingers along her arm to which they stop on her bicep.

"Jesus, Alex," the blonde whispers quietly, clenching her fingers over her wife's toned muscle. "Have you been working out?" she asks, impressed at the solid feel of the surface in her hand.

"A little bit," the brunette admits. "It helps the time pass by, but there isn't really a lot available. You like it?" she asks, smiling at the sight of Piper transfixed my something as minute as an arm muscle.

"I love it," the blonde admits, sounding as though she's trapped in a daze while she feels the area. "I'm guessing this isn't the only thing you've been working on?" she asks, finally looking back up into Alex's eyes.

"Your guess is correct," the brunette smiles, not expecting such a statement to make the woman next to her react so visibly.

Piper, meanwhile, has a hard time taking in the information. It's something that causes her mind to run wild at the imagery of her wife's body, and, on instinct, her thighs shoot together - an indication that whatever she was thinking about did more than please her mind.

"You _really_ liked that then," Alex chuckles, feeling the pressure of Piper's thighs squishing her hand.

"Yeah, I did…" Piper breathes out, unable to make her scan of her wife's torso subtle.

"Alright, kid. Back to you," the brunette again digresses, not wanting their only time together to be spent with Piper crumbling into a pool of arousal. "What's next?"

"I can't give up work yet," Piper begins, somehow managing to drag herself back up to the surface and clear her onset of dirty thoughts. "I've been thinking about doing some writing. I know I mentioned it before, but I think writing a memoir might be a good idea."

"As long as you're happy doing that."

"I've been contemplating doing it more and more as of recent, so I think it will," the blonde smiles, finally moving her hands so they're both resting on the table.

She finds herself spacing out throughout the next topic of conversation Alex brings up, and it doesn't take long for the brunette to pick up on it.

"Are you even listening to me?" she pauses what she was saying, waiting for any form of response. "I can tell that you're-"

"Marry me," Piper interrupts, dismissing whatever Alex was talking about.

"We're already married, Pipes," Alex states, laughing at the blonde's serious facial expression.

"No. I mean _really_ marry me. I know we say it's currently official, but that's what I eventually want it to be. I want to be able to legally say I'm married and change my name."

"As much as I want that too, I think you're missing something, Piper: I'm in fucking prison."

"I was doing some research. It can take some time, but we could get married in here," the blonde reveals, talking quietly as though she's telling a secret.

"Pipes," the brunette begins, running a hand through her hair. "Do you really want to get married in this shit hole?"

"It's not the location that matters, Al."

"Oh, come on. You used to always complain about using public bathrooms when we travelled, and now you're saying getting married in a fucking prison is what you want?"

Leaning forward, Alex grabs Piper's hand, trying to soothe the look of rejection she's currently rocking.

"Look - I want to get married, Piper, but not here. I have, what: nearly a year left on my sentence? Why don't we spend that time planning for something when I get out."

"Is that what you want?" the blonde asks, having not expected Alex to want to go through the whole planning process.

"Piper - I want to marry you for you, but I also want pictures, family members to witness, and to be in the freedom to do whatever we want without guards watching the entire time."

Piper ponders Alex's suggestion before biting down on her lower lip.

"So you're saying you want to start planning our wedding?"

"Yeah. If you'd help me."

"Of course I will," the blonde smiles, squeezing the brunette's hand in her own.

"Do you think your parents will come?"

Letting out a loud sigh, Piper looks into her wife's eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know. Well, my mom would, but my dad: I couldn't be certain."

"At least you know I'll show up."

"You fucking better."

* * *

"No, Cal. It fucking hurts," Piper says as she walks over to the other side of her kitchen to hand her brother his coffee.

"Don't be a pussy. It's not that big. Just take it off already."

"The woman in the shop said to wait a couple of hours. You were there!" the blonde says, irritated by her brother's persistence.

"I'll show you mine," he says, standing up, moving the sleeve of his hawaiian shirt up to the top of his shoulder and peeling back the layer of protective cover on his skin. "Fucking awesome!"

On the side of his arm lays a reference to a Sci-Fi film that has been his favourite since a young age. It's not excessively large, but Piper has to admit that it does suit her brother and his wacky nature.

"It is pretty cool," the blonde reveals, smiling at her brother's child-like happiness.

"Now your turn," he says, turning to look over at his sister. "Nothing bad's gonna happen, Pipes."

Feeling as though her brother isn't going to stop pressuring her - and now secretly excited to see herself, she rolls her eyes and moves towards the mirror that's placed on the wall to her right. Pulling her t-shirt up, she eyes the right side of her body - more specifically her side boob area. Lifting a hand, she slowly pulls back the white plaster-like covering to reveal the latest addition to her body.

It's simple - exactly how she wanted it, and in this moment, she's thankful that her brother had turned to her when he voiced an urge to get a tattoo and even went as far as persuading her to get another one too in the process. The black ink poses a contrast to her light skin, but it's the meaning behind her inking that resonates through her. Without offering any form of verbal response, Piper stares for what feels like a lifetime at her skin, imagining what Alex's reaction is going to be.

Cal, meanwhile, sits quietly, watching his sister but wanting to give her an element of privacy as she views her art work.

"Are you okay?" he asks from where he's now seated back down outside of the blonde's vision, starting to find the increasing silence unbearable.

"Yeah," Piper says into the mirror before turning around. "Sorry, I was just-"

"It's okay," Cal prevents her from continuing, immediately understanding that the sight before her obviously meant a lot, as supported by his sister's tearful eyes and fragile voice. "I really like it. Now are you still mad at me for - as you put it - 'making you come with me'?"

"No, I'm not," she responds, smiling at her brother's smug _I told you so_ facial expression before turning back to face the mirror.

Biting down on her lower lip, Piper tries to prevent a large, toothy smile from taking over her features. She looks at the 'A' tattoo on her side one last time before forcing herself to look away, knowing that no matter how many times she sees it, she will always react the same way.


	8. Chapter 8

**I know it's short, but I've had a lot of people requesting for an update in reviews on my other stories and figured I owed a chapter. Life's been very busy at the minute, but I wanted to get at least something out there to keep people happy.**

**PS: I'm a human with a life outside of writing, so please respect that I won't always update very quickly from here onwards. I'm still more than open to take any suggestions in reviews/pms, however! **

* * *

"Pipes, how're we going to afford all of that?" Alex asks down the phone line, causing the blonde to let out a heavy sigh.

"I've explained, Al. We have savings," Piper says, somewhat irritated that she has to keep explaining the situation at hand.

"_We_ don't have savings," Alex states. "_You_ have savings, Piper."

"Alex," the blonde again pauses, her growing irritation down the line. "You're my partner. What's mine is also yours. I want this to be perfect for us. I've waited over 10 years to be with you. Let me do this."

"There's no changing your mind, is there, kid?" the brunette asks, her rising tone of voice suggesting her lips have grown into a smile.

"Nope," Piper comments, before going back to what she was saying before she was interrupted. "Anyway, if you didn't want to wear a dress that's fine, but whatever it is, it has to be white," she adds, seriousness running through her voice.

"I don't mind the idea of wearing a dress. It'll be like the riot all over again," Alex says, chuckling at the memory of her make-shift makeover.

"Al-" Piper begins, warning the brunette as she knows her wife is aware that her thoughts will drift towards what had happened in the janitorial closet after she had first seen said outfit with her own eyes.

"Things are that bad, huh?" she laughs, sensing what Piper means.

"No. You're just making me miss you more," the blonde admits. "All of this wedding planning makes the distance harder."

"I know the feeling. It's not long left now."

"Too long," Piper mentions, trying hard to not get emotional.

"Have you still been reading the notes?" Alex asks, sensing the other woman's emotions are changing.

"Of course I have," the blonde smiles at the thought of Alex's reasons for loving her.

"How many are there left?"

"I don't know uh… I'll go check," Piper voices, wanting to give her wife the correct answer.

"39," Alex says. "That's if you haven't read them all ahead of time."

"How did you…?"

"I'm in prison, Piper. Forgive me for counting down the weeks."

"Oh… right. Sorry," the blonde utters, feeling nervous for some reason.

"Come on, Pipes, don't do that," Alex says, not wanting her wife to change the tone of their conversation.

"Do what?"

"Apologise. I like it when you free fall with whatever you want to talk about."

"I just…" Piper pauses, not wanting to lie, but already knowing Alex is going to shut down what she's about to say. "I don't want you to feel like I'm being too overwhelming and that you've had enough of me."

"You know that's never going to happen, Pipes. I _can't wait_ to get out of here and be with you. That feeling isn't going anywhere any time soon," the brunette admits, wanting to reassure her wife.

"I know. I know. I'm just finding it hard without you here," the blonde reveals, feeling further away from Alex than she has in a long time.

"Keep reminding yourself there isn't long left." Alex says, before smiling on her end. "Plus, I can't wait to see you in that dress you won't stop talking about."

The brunette hears Piper's light chuckle down the phone, and although throughout the years they've found the lack of contact tough, the final few months of Alex's sentence are proving to be the most difficult.

Since Piper had brought up the idea of getting officially married, most of their visitation and call time was spent planning, and although she at times feels like she's overwhelming her wife with her freedom, Alex ensured to let it be known that she too wants to get married just as much as Piper does once she's out.

* * *

The next 200 odd days prove to display their highs and lows from both women, and although she knows it's something she shouldn't be doing, Piper finds herself panicking.

The night before she was due to pick up Alex was spent frantically rushing about the apartment she calls home. She attempted to clean the space, knowing it's something that Alex will appreciate, as well as the fact she wants to impress her wife as ridiculous as it sounds.

She made sure to drive to the prison at least 20 minutes before Alex was due to be released, as she knew from her own experiences that due to paper work, the brunette could appear a bit before or even quite some time after her allotted release time: 11am.

Waiting in her car in the prison car park proves to be a nerve-wracking experience, and when the clock passes 11, Piper gets out of the driver's side and approaches the prison entrance as previously instructed the last time she had inquired about where to pick up an inmate being released at visitation. She's the only person standing outside in the cold air; burgundy sweatshirt opposing the colour of her navy skinny jeans and black Chelsea boots. Her hair is down just below her shoulders in a straight fashion - something she styled when she woke up early to get ready that morning.

The door to the prison opens several times, causing her hopes to rise, yet every time it's a worker either leaving in a switch of shifts, or a visitor leaving to go back home. By the time it reaches 11:30, the blonde grows restless. An underlying sense of panic begins to form inside at the thought of Alex being caught in some form of situation and having more time added to her sentence, but when the prison door finally opens and reveals the person she had been waiting for, all negative thoughts go flying from her head.

"Alex-" the blonde whispers out, but the brunette doesn't allow for further conversation as she drops her bag of belongings and pulls her wife into a hug.

The pair stand in that stationary position, embracing one another in an emotion-filled reunion. It isn't for at least a minute until they pull back, and despite tears building up in her eyes, Piper reaches up and cups the taller woman's cheeks, pulling her into a loving kiss.

"You're here," the blonde says, breaking the liplock but still keeping her hands on her wife's cheeks.

"I am," Alex smiles, rubbing her hands along Piper's forearms. "Should we get out of here before they find out about the heroin I was dealing in there?" she does on to ask, causing Piper's eyebrows to shoot up in an extremely worried manner. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Alex says before the blonde gets a chance to even respond.

"Jesus, fuck, Alex! Don't do that to me," Piper says, moving her right hand down to cover her heart.

"Was that not funny?" the brunette asks, reaching down to link their fingers.

"No. It wasn't," Piper replies, yet the feeling of Alex connecting their hands causes a smile to erupt onto her face. "Come on - the car's this way."


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm thinking of bringing this to a close soon. I don't really want to overdo the concept or have it turn into something that's too predictable which can take _a lot_ of thought and time - something which I currently don't possess a lot of. **

**I hope this was at least worth the wait. **

* * *

The dark room is filled with silence. From where she's lying on the right hand side of the bed, Piper twists so that her body faces the being next to her. Bringing Alex home set off an overwhelming stem of emotions, and although the brunette's release had been something both women had been counting down, now that it's really happened, it seems as though neither knows exactly what to do next.

From her own experiences, Piper knows being released is hard; the schedules of waking up at 5am to the prison lighting is something that hindered her sleeping pattern for a number of months, and the shock of hearing loud noises triggered a sense of panic. Observing her wife being welcomed into the new surroundings of their home was a process for the the blonde. She watched her wife slowly moving from room to room, commenting on particular pieces of decor and pictures framing the walls, but what she didn't expect was her fluctuating mood. Yes, they'd been separated for 4 years, but what Piper hadn't considered was that her wife may need some time alone - as ironic as that sounds - to adjust to her new surroundings, her new sense of freedom.

Despite the darkness, Piper can just about see Alex sleeping, and although the rest of the day was emotionally charged, both women felt too tired for anything other than conversing over a meal before going to sleep. Intimacy was something they'd both spoken about during phone calls and visits, but once the time eventually came around, neither woman thought about the possibility of other emotional tolls getting in the way.

By the time she lets herself fall asleep, in what feels like no time, Piper is woken up by sharp feeling of something moving in the bed next to her. Forcing her eyes open, the blonde sees her wife sitting upright in the bed with her head tilted down - the rapid movements of her chest suggesting she's trying to control her breathing. It's something she should have thought about - the dreams and unfamiliarity of being outside of prison did the same thing to her after her release, but as she slowly shuffles to move closer to the brunette, the sight of her struggle brings her back to her own negative experiences.

"Al," the blonde whispers, lightly brushing the edge of the white short-sleeved t-shirt her wife is wearing.

Flinching slightly at the contact, Alex's head turns to the side, but the panic soon fades away once she realises who it is touching her arm.

"Sorry," she whispers, not having expected to react to physical contact in such a way. "Go back to bed."

"Alex," Piper begins, sitting upright and placing a hand on the top of her wife's thigh that's covered by the duvet. "It's okay. I get it," she says, letting the brunette know it's an experience she's also been through. "It's just the sound of things happening outside."

"Sorry," the brunette repeats, looking back down while trying to relax her shoulders.

"Don't be sorry," the blonde whispers back. "Come here," she adds, lying back with her left arm stretched out as a form of invitation.

Seeming convinced, Alex complies, slowly moving back so that she can be pulled closer into Piper's warm body.

"It takes time to get used to it," the blonde continues, "I found it hard to begin with too."

The brunette doesn't respond verbally, instead turning onto her side to rest her head in the crook of the blonde's neck.

Piper lies awake, slowly rubbing her arm along her wife's back until she feels her drift back to sleep in her arms, and when she again eventually wakes up hours later, she finds that she's the first to arise, and in a role reversal situation, her body is fused behind the brunette's, right arm wrapped around her torso. She revels in the feeling of having Alex with her in person - able to touch her freely without the fear of a guard taking her away. The sight of the sleeping woman prevents Piper from wanting to disturb her, so in an attempt to let the brunette sleep peacefully, the blonde moves her arm back towards her own body and shuffles slightly so that she can be a witness to Alex waking up - hoping that she won't panic at the sight of the foreign surroundings around her.

Piper is brought out of her daydream as she feels a hand reach back to grab her own. Letting Alex pull her limb, Piper smiles as she feels herself being pulled back closer to her wife's body so that her arm can wrap back around her abdomen.

"You're warm," Alex's husky voice breaks the room's silence, causing Piper to bite down on her lower lip at just being able to hear her wife's voice in her just-woken state.

"Being next to you does that," the blonde responds, craning her head forward to deliver a kiss onto the skin of the side of Alex's neck.

Feeling the taller woman begin to move, Piper adjusts to accommodate her body turning over, and has to compose herself to not get too over emotional at the sight of Alex delivering a genuine smile.

"What time is it?" Alex asks, having not yet put on her glasses or really knowing where in the room she would be able to time.

"Just gone 9:30."

"We really were that tired then," Alex chuckles, alluding to the fact that neither woman could barely keep their eyes open the prior evening.

"How're you feeling?" Piper asks, wanting to know if there's anything her wife needs.

"I'm good," the brunette responds. "I think I'm the one that should be asking that though," she continues, smiling as she runs her left hand under the fabric of the blonde's t-shirt, stroking her toned abdomen and smiling at the goosebumps that erupt all over the surface of her skin at the connection.

"Al-" Piper whispers, clenching down on her jaw at the long-awaited sensation - something she'd craved since Alex had walked into their living space, but she didn't want to rush the older woman's adjustment process.

"It's been 4 years, Pipes, I can't imagine you weren't thinking about it last night," the brunette voices, letting her wife know she's fully aware as to what her intentions had been - in her own mind, she had the same initial thoughts before other factors got the better of her.

Choosing to give a more physical response, Piper reaches her hands up and pulls Alex into a searing kiss, deciding to let her actions do the talking.

* * *

The following weeks prove to pass by in a similar fashion. Piper takes the first initial week off work, but having to go back leaves her in a state of worry; Alex had found it hard to adjust to her surroundings. The blonde herself understands the feeling, but can't help but feel like she's always in the way; her process in the company of her brother's family wasn't easy, but she often finds herself wondering how Alex feels being alone with her.

Their levels of intimacy aren't as high as they used to be. It's something she expected after the first few days, but despite both living a life of freedom, Piper strangely misses the brunette. Alex managed to get herself a job at a local restaurant, and although both women are making a form of income, it leaves them with very little time for themselves. The brunette often works night shifts due to the better pay and the lack of alcohol they sell as an establishment.

Things have gotten better - it was inevitable that the change would be difficult for both parties, but things are far from what they had expected.

"Hello?" Alex's voice rings out as she enters their apartment in the early evening, closing the front door over behind her. "Pipes? I bought dinner form work," she continues, putting away her shoes and jacket before walking along the hallway and into the kitchen area.

"Piper?" she asks, quickly realising the blonde isn't in either of the rooms she had passed by to get where she's currently standing.

Placing the bag filled with dinner onto the kitchen counter, the brunette adjusts her glasses as she walks further through the living space to look for her wife. She immediately sees their bedroom door closed over - a sign that someone had recently been in there, and from the faint sound of running water, Alex identifies that the blonde is in the shower.

For the first time in what feels like forever, Alex doesn't feel tired. Work wasn't stressful, and her meeting with her probation officer ended sooner than expected. She feels guilty for the lack of time she's had alone with Piper other than when they wake up and go to bed, and in an effort to prove it's something she desperately craves, Alex decides to join the younger woman in the bathroom.

With the door unlocked, the brunette peaks her head through the now opened pathway, feeling the heat from the steam surrounding the room hitting her face immediately.

"Pipes," she states, letting the other woman know of her presence as she opens the door slightly wider.

The steamed-up shower door prevents the brunette from seeing whether the blonde knows if she's in the room or if she had even heard her arrive home to begin with, but that question is somewhat soon answered.

"Alex," the brunette hears in response - something she reads as the other woman trying to be a smartass and respond to the initial call of her own name.

"I brought dinner from work. You know, that chicken dish that you like," the brunette continues, assuming Piper was listening.

She suddenly flinches at the loud sound that comes off the steamed glass shower screen as Piper's left arm smacks its surface, leaving a palm print in the build-up of heat.

"Al," the blonde voices, causing Alex to momentarily worry as she takes another step further into the room before immediately stopping in her tracks.

"Fuck-" Piper groans out, and in hearing the blonde's low tone of voice, all worry-filled thoughts go flying out of her head, instead being replaced by more arousing ones.

While moving to take off her own clothing, Alex observes Piper's head flying backwards - again hitting the shower screen, and as she has her back to the door, the brunette doesn't want to give her the fright of her life.

Moving from where she's now in the middle of the room, Alex closes back over the bathroom door - something she knows Piper hears.

"Alex?" she can make out through the running water - Piper's now question-filled intonation indicating that the movement of her hand had taken a pause.

"Yeah," the brunette replies, secretly looking forward to hearing what excuse the blonde is going to try and use to be in the room alone.

"I didn't realise you were home I-" she pauses, the last-minute mental scramble evident from a mile away. "I'll only be another minute."

"Oh, I know you'll only be another minute," Alex says back as she walks over to the shower, lifting her foot into the bath so that she can round the other side of the screen. "Hey," she greets quietly as she delivers a smile and wave at the flustered blonde.

"I didn't realise you were home already," Piper offers in response, moving her right hand up so that it's now in line with the centre of her abdomen as she turns her body to face the brunette.

"You don't need to stop because of me," Alex begins, moving closer so that she now feels some of the wet sprinkles shooting off Piper's skin onto her own. "I'll happily watch," she adds, smirking flirtatiously.

"No, it's okay, I-" the blonde begins, but is cut off by Alex's index finger running down her side.

"What's this?" she asks, looking at the right side of the blonde's rib cage. "Is this a new tattoo?" she adds, knowing this must be an addition Piper got after she had herself been released, and considering the few times they'd been intimate throughout the last few weeks were either in the dark or with pieces of clothing still on, this is the first time Alex notices.

"This?" Piper questions, lifting her arm. "Yeah: it's an A."

"I can see that," the brunette chuckles - Piper's flustered nervousness proving as a source of entertainment.

"A for Alex."

"You didn't have to do that," Alex says, looking into her wife's blue eyes.

"I wanted to. It weirdly didn't make the separation feel so bad."

"I love it," the brunette smiles, stepping closer to run her fingers over the ink before resting her hand on the blonde's waist. "And I love you."

"I love you too… so much, Al," Piper smiles, placing her wet hands onto her wife's shoulders.

They both smile as their lips fuse into a kiss - Piper's mouth opening to let out a gasp at the feeling of Alex's cold hand touching her centre.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's a short, but I think suitable, final chapter. I know I basically abandoned this, but if I'm being honest, I sort of forgot about it until someone mentioned it in a review of another story of mine recently!**

**I hope this is a good enough ending for you all. **

* * *

_4 years later: _

"As for Alex, I knew from the moment I saw her I was in trouble," Alex reads from where she's sitting next to her wife in their living room. "If anything, I found her more attractive than when we first met - something I struggled to admit to myself for quite some time."

Laughing at what she had just read, Alex turns to the blonde.

"I didn't know that," she says through her entertainment.

"I thought you probably assumed it," Piper shrugs, somewhat nervous to hear Alex's opinions of her work.

"Of course I assumed it," Alex raises her eyebrows. "You've just never admitted it."

"There's a lot of things in there I've never admitted before," Piper juts her head forward, looking at the book in her wife's hands.

Although writing a memoir was something she wanted to achieve, the blonde didn't realise just how long it would take. From a legal standing point, she had to change the names of some of the people she was incarcerated with, and more so for herself and Alex's safety, there is less of a focus on what they had been involved with before prison, only parts of their relationship.

Now out for members of the public to read, Piper is letting Alex read the book for the first time. Of course, she'd read most of it already when Piper requested for her assistance, but the blonde wanted some parts to be a surprise - mainly the chapters that focused on the roller coaster that is their relationship.

"When we again connected sexually after 8 years, I realised what I'd been missing out on. Yes, I did spend time in solitary for it, but I soon learnt that when it comes to being with Alex, I'd just about do anything."

After reading the small paragraph, Alex pauses, licking her lips as she thinks of what to say.

"I guess we never really spoke about the SHU," she continues, thinking back to the Thanksgiving dinner she spent worrying about the woman next to her.

"It sucked," Piper states quite obviously. "I wasn't myself in there, but it taught me I never wanted to go back in."

Nodding at the blonde's response, Alex looks back at the book and turns to the next page.

"Is all of this chapter about me?" she asks, again seeing the first sentence featuring her name.

"The majority of it," Piper reaches over and runs her finger to roughly 5 pages before and opening it wider. "See," she places her finger down onto the bold font reading the number 3 with the words A _Blast From The Past_.

"Ah, okay," Alex nods slowly, almost as though trying to take in the fact that details of herself and Piper's relationship are being told to the world. "Do you," she pauses trying to think of a good way to ask what she's thinking. "Do you go into a lot of detail?"

"Only what I thought was relevant," Piper tilts her head slightly, placing her hand on her wife's bare forearm. "I told you all the things I wasn't going to include. I wanted to talk about _you_ when you're mentioned, Alex. Why you being in prison with me was one of the thing to have happened."

Giving a close-lipped smile, Alex looks back towards the page, feeling reassured that Piper won't be spilling all of their history onto paper.

"I told Alex I loved her when I was trying to fix a toaster in the canteen kitchen. I also told her I hated her in the same sentence. That's the thing I learnt about loving Alex; no matter how much shit we went through, it was always just that. I am in love with her."

Smiling to herself, Alex can feel Piper's trimmed fingernails running along her forearm, providing a reassuring touch.

"Sure, we both ended up in prison together, but who wouldn't want to be locked inside with the love of their life?"

Again stopping, Alex turns her head to the left.

"You mean that?"

Piper knows the woman next to her can sometimes still harvest guilt for how she landed her in prison. She can't exactly blame her - she herself feels her anxiety grow when she thinks back to how she left Alex alone in Paris all those years ago. They're over it now, but memories are something that inevitably appear every now and then.

"Of course I do," Piper says, giving a toothy smile. "Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed you marry you again, Al," she moves her fingers down to Alex's left hand, fiddling with the simple, silver wedding band on her ring finger.

They'd gotten legally married close to a year after Alex's release. Although it was something they'd been planning throughout the rest of her sentence, Alex insisted they waited until she had enough money to buy Piper a ring. Of course, that caused the odd argument - more so Piper being stubborn about not having to save up when she already has savings for the pair of them, but Alex wanted the gesture to be more meaningful than that. Special.

Piper was surprised her parents both came to their wedding, and although it was awkward whenever they tried to converse with Alex, she was just glad that they finally seemed to accept that this is her life: she's married to Alex and will be spending the rest of her life with her.

"I even said that at the trial. You know… Chicago," Piper reveals, noting that she had never shared that information with her wife before.

"Hmm?" Alex hums, clearly wondering what Piper is alluding to from what they had just spoken about.

"I called you the love of my life during my testimony."

"You did?" Alex asks, and Piper wonders whether she's thinking back to the conversation they'd had hours before she had spoken on the stand. They were in the prison transportation van and spoke about things being romantically over between them.

"Yeah," Piper leans forward, delivering a light kiss to her wife's cheek. "That's the one thing I never lied about on that stand," she adds jokingly.

"You're something else, Piper," Alex smiles, placing her hands on either side of the blonde's cheeks to pull her into a kiss. They both ignore the sound of the book hitting the floor, finding their attention focused on nothing but each other.

* * *

"Oh, I don't know, Pipes," Alex says to the blonde who is animatedly trying to persuade the brunette next to her.

It's been a week since the blonde's memoir had been released, and despite its popularity throughout the media, there's only one thing people are craving to see and hear more about.

"It's just a picture, Al," Piper chuckles, placing her hand on Alex's hip from where they're both still lying in bed having woken up just 5 minutes before. "People want to see what the great Alex Vause-Chapman looks like."

"People don't need to know what I look like, Piper," Alex protests, finding the idea of her image being out in the world somewhat daunting.

"They're going to find out sooner or later," Piper wiggles her eyebrows. "They've already asked me to bring some pictures along for my interviews," she adds, also excited about the opportunities her memoir is opening doors to.

"Fine," Alex huffs as she watches Piper give off a bright smile before instantly turning over to grab her phone from her nightstand. "Are you going to be in it," Alex asks as she watches Piper settle onto her back and unlock her phone.

"Do you want me to be in it?" the blonde asks, turning her head to the right.

Thinking for a moment, Alex concludes she'd feel a lot more comfortable with Piper by her side - not that it would make too much of a difference.

"It would make things a lot less scary if you were in it with me."

"Then I'll be in it with you," Piper smiles, moving her body so that she's now invading her wife's personal space. "I'll make it worth your while after we're done," she says in a lower register, kissing the brunette on the lips innocently.

The blonde then adjusts herself so that she's lying on her back and prompts Alex to do the same, making sure they're both close together.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Piper asks once she feels Alex rest her head against her own, looking at the front camera that is currently open on her device.

Looking at her wife confused, Alex furrows her brows before Piper turns her head to look at her.

"Your glasses," the blonde prompts, knowing they're on her wife's side table.

"Oh, right," Alex turns to grab the frames, having not thought Piper would have minded if she had them on or not.

"Much better," Piper smiles once Alex again settles into her previous position.

The brunette surprisingly complied more than she thought she would, and after what must have been close to 20 seconds, Piper snapped a suitable picture of the two of them smiling into the camera. Upon reflection, it was obvious they were both still in bed and hadn't long been awake, but it doesn't bother her. If anything, Piper knows it will get people talking more than they already are about herself and Alex's relationship.

"So, what're you doing now?" Alex asks.

Although Alex is up-to-date with modern technology, social media is less her thing. It's something Piper learnt very quickly when Alex would voice her disdain whenever she would show her something from her own phone.

"Putting it on Twitter," Piper responds, already attaching the picture into a tweet.

"What are you typing?" Alex continues to question, and Piper laughs in reply.

"You don't need to be so paranoid, you know," she smiles at her wife. "I thought I would just settle with the glasses emoji."

"Isn't that a little weird? No writing?"

"Well what else do you suggest? I put our address?" Piper asks sarcastically, enjoying watching Alex squirm.

"Alright, fine. You do your thing," the brunette relents, raising her hands as though surrendering.

After posting the image, Piper places her phone on the side and turns back to her wife.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asks, turning onto her side as she again places her hand on Alex's hip.

"I guess not, no. Now you'll just have to deal with all the marriage proposals I'm about to get," she jokes.

"Oh I think not," Piper squeezes her wife's flesh. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

"That, I am," Alex mirrors Piper's wide smile which soon melts as their lips once again gravitate towards one another.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! **

**It's been an interesting time spent writing since I started this, so I appreciate anyone that does manage to read the ending.**

**Until next time. **


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